Spencer Howard will take the mound tonight for the Philadelphia Phillies, who are opening up a West Coast trip with three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Howard, who was consistently struggled to pitch longer than three or four innings, could have a new piggyback partner in the bullpen to relieve him when the time comes. The role typically went to Ranger Suarez, who has been incredible out of the pen for the Phillies this season. Suarez has been so good, that Joe Girardi and the Phillies have opted to use him more often out of the bullpen rather than limiting him to a piggyback role for Howard.

According to reports, minor league pitcher Bailey Falter traveled with the Phillies and is expected to be activated before tonight’s game. It’s assumed that he will be taking over the piggyback role for Spencer Howard.

Falter will be the third member of the Phillies’ 2015 draft class to get a call up to the major league level (Scott Kingery, Luke Williams). As Matt Breen mentioned above, Falter had a 1.82 ERA in 29.2 innings in Triple A. The 24-year-old left-hander was 2-0 with a 0.74 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and a .205 batting average against with 36 strikeouts and five walks in his first Triple-A stint with the IronPigs.

The Phillies desperately need to figure out what to do with Spencer Howard and his inability to pitch deep into ball games. Until then, they will stick with the piggyback role as Howard continues to work through his velocity issues.

The best baseball of the season for the Phillies could not come at a better time. They are now 7-2 in June. At the end of May, we talked about how June would be an extremely important month for the Phillies. The team just finished a 6-2 home stand and will now head to the West Coast to face the Dodgers and the Giants.

Dodgers pitcher Tony Gonsolin. The Phillies are 11-19 on the road and currently are +157 to win tonight against the Dodgers. Spencer Howard and possibly Foster, will now be responsible for keeping things moving as the Phillies go for five straight wins.

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Mandatory Credit: Cheryl Pursell