What years did J. P. Howell play?

J. P. Howell played in Major League Baseball from 2005 to 2017.

Was J. P. Howell a pitcher?

Yes. J. P. Howell pitched in the major leagues, recording 36 wins and 566 strikeouts.

How many home runs did J. P. Howell hit?

J. P. Howell hit 0 career home runs with 2 hits.

What teams did J. P. Howell play for?

J. P. Howell played for 4 teams: the Kansas City Royals (2005), the Tampa Bay Rays (2006–2009, 2011–2012), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2013–2016), and the Toronto Blue Jays (2017).

What were J. P. Howell's career stats?

In 547 games, J. P. Howell went 36-30 with a 3.83 ERA, 566 strikeouts, 619.2 innings pitched, and 22 saves.

What was J. P. Howell's salary?

J. P. Howell's last recorded salary was $6,250,000, in 2016. His highest recorded salary was $6,250,000, in 2016, and his lowest was $397,400, in 2008. The Salary History table lists each season from 2008 to 2016.

What position did J. P. Howell play?

J. P. Howell played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was J. P. Howell and how much did he weigh?

J. P. Howell was listed at 6 feet and 180 pounds.

What was J. P. Howell's career ERA?

J. P. Howell finished with a 3.83 career ERA, going 36-30 with 566 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did J. P. Howell have?

J. P. Howell recorded 566 career strikeouts.

Is J. P. Howell in the Hall of Fame?

No. J. P. Howell has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

J. P. Howell

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2005-2017)

J. P. Howell was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2005 to 2017 for 4 teams, including the Kansas City Royals, a span of 13 seasons. Across 547 career appearances, he went 36-30 with a 3.83 ERA, 566 strikeouts, and 22 saves. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 3052.6.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 15, 2026

W–L 36–30

ERA 3.83

WHIP 1.34

SO 566

Pitcher PIV 3052.6

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 180 lb
Born: 4/25/1983 in Modesto, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 2005-06-11
Last Game: 2017-08-13

Full name: James Phillip Howell

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Career Pitching Statistics

J. P. Howell — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
36	30	547	33	0	0	22	619.2	561	264	59	270	566	3.83	3052.6

Career ERA 3.83 vs. league average 4.17 across their career seasons — 8.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

J. P. Howell Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
2005	KCA	AL	3	5	15	15	0	72.2	73	50	39	54	6.19	4.29 (-44%)	-1291.2
2006	TBA	AL	1	3	8	8	0	42.1	52	24	14	33	5.10	4.53 (-13%)	540.3
2007	TBA	AL	1	6	10	10	0	51.0	69	43	21	49	7.59	4.47 (-70%)	-377.3
2008	TBA	AL	6	1	64	0	3	89.1	62	22	39	92	2.22	4.32 (+49%)	2125.0
2009	TBA	AL	7	5	69	0	17	66.2	47	21	33	79	2.83	4.32 (+34%)	1030.1
2011	TBA	AL	2	3	46	0	1	30.2	30	21	18	26	6.16	3.94 (-56%)	-1121.9
2012	TBA	AL	1	0	55	0	0	50.1	39	17	22	42	3.04	4.01 (+24%)	-967.5
2013	LAN	NL	4	1	67	0	0	62.0	42	14	23	54	2.03	3.87 (+47%)	1536.7
2014	LAN	NL	3	3	68	0	0	49.0	31	13	25	48	2.39	3.74 (+36%)	550.8
2015	LAN	NL	6	1	65	0	1	44.0	47	7	14	39	1.43	3.96 (+64%)	691.9
2016	LAN	NL	1	1	64	0	0	50.2	56	23	15	44	4.09	4.19 (+2%)	880.6
2017	TOR	AL	1	1	16	0	0	11.0	13	9	7	6	7.36	4.36 (-69%)	-544.9
Career · 12 seasons			36	30	547	33	22	619.2	561	264	270	566	3.83	—	3,053

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

J. P. Howell — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
547	13	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	7	.154	.154	.154	.308	0

Career AVG .154 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — 40.6% below league average.

Career OBP .154 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — 52.7% below league average.

Career SLG .154 vs. league average .412 across their career seasons — 62.7% below league average.

Career OPS .308 vs. league average .737 across their career seasons — 58.3% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

J. P. Howell Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	RBI	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
2005	KCA	AL	15	3	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2006	TBA	AL	8	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2007	TBA	AL	10	6	1	2	1	2	.333	—	—	—	—	0.0
2008	TBA	AL	64	1	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2009	TBA	AL	69	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2011	TBA	AL	46	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2012	TBA	AL	55	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2013	LAN	NL	67	1	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2014	LAN	NL	68	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2015	LAN	NL	65	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2016	LAN	NL	64	2	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2017	TOR	AL	16	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 12 seasons			547	13	1	2	1	7	.154	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

J. P. Howell — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

J. P. Howell — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
2015	NLDS2	LAN	1	.000
2014	NLDS2	LAN	3	.000
2013	NLCS	LAN	4	.000
2013	NLDS2	LAN	3	.000
2011	ALDS2	TBA	1	.000
2008	ALCS	TBA	6	.000
2008	ALDS2	TBA	3	.000
2008	WS	TBA	3	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

J. P. Howell — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	3	24	0	0	20.1	21	7	7	23	3.10

Playoff Pitching by Year

J. P. Howell — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	L	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2015	NLDS2	LAN	0	1	1.0	1	0	0	0	0.00
2014	NLDS2	LAN	0	3	1.1	5	2	0	0	13.50
2013	NLCS	LAN	0	4	3.2	4	1	2	3	2.45
2013	NLDS2	LAN	0	3	2.1	1	0	1	3	0.00
2011	ALDS2	TBA	0	1	0.0	1	0	0	0	0.00
2008	ALCS	TBA	1	6	5.1	5	2	3	6	3.38
2008	ALDS2	TBA	0	3	4.1	2	0	0	6	0.00
2008	WS	TBA	2	3	2.1	2	2	1	5	7.71

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1094 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

J. P. Howell — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	271	0	0	0	0	0	—
Away	276	13	1	2	0	1	.154

Pitching — Home / Away

J. P. Howell — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	271	302.1	262	117	121	277	3.48
Away	276	317.1	299	147	149	289	4.17

Last 10 Games — Pitching

J. P. Howell — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2017-08-13	TOR	PIT	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2017-08-09	TOR	NYY	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0
2017-08-04	TOR	HOU	—	1.0	1	1	1	0	0	1
2017-06-03	TOR	NYY	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2017-06-01	TOR	NYY	—	1.2	3	3	3	0	3	0
2017-05-29	TOR	CIN	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
2017-05-28	TOR	TEX	—	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	0
2017-05-17	TOR	ATL	—	1.1	1	0	0	2	0	0
2017-05-15	TOR	ATL	—	0.1	2	2	2	0	0	0
2017-05-09	TOR	CLE	—	0.1	1	0	0	1	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

J. P. Howell — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	547	33	47	98	1	9

Season-by-Season Fielding

J. P. Howell — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
2005	KCA	P	15	15	2	8	0	0
2006	TBA	P	8	8	4	7	0	3
2007	TBA	P	10	10	7	10	0	1
2008	TBA	P	64	0	7	9	1	0
2009	TBA	P	69	0	3	8	0	0
2011	TBA	P	46	0	2	3	0	1
2012	TBA	P	55	0	2	8	0	0
2013	LAN	P	67	0	6	10	0	1
2014	LAN	P	68	0	5	15	0	1
2015	LAN	P	65	0	7	11	0	2
2016	LAN	P	64	0	1	8	0	0
2017	TOR	P	16	0	1	1	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

J. P. Howell Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	547

Salary History

J. P. Howell's recorded salaries total $22,181,100 over 9 seasons, 2008 to 2016. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Howell's career ran from 2005 to 2017. His seasons after 2016 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 2005, 2006, and 2007.

J. P. Howell — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2016	LAN	NL	$6,250,000
2015	LAN	NL	$4,000,000
2014	LAN	NL	$4,000,000
2013	LAN	NL	$2,850,000
2012	TBA	AL	$1,350,000
2011	TBA	AL	$1,100,000
2010	TBA	AL	$1,800,000
2009	TBA	AL	$433,700
2008	TBA	AL	$397,400
Total recorded salary (partial)			$22,181,100

College History

J. P. Howell — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
University of Texas at Austin	Austin	TX	2003, 2004
University of Southern California	Los Angeles	CA	2002

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

J. P. Howell (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

J. P. Howell: the record in brief

According to the bio, J. P. Howell debuted on June 11, 2005 and played a final game on August 13, 2017. Club by club, the record runs the Kansas City Royals (2005), the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2006 to 2007), the Tampa Bay Rays (2008 to 2012), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2013 through 2016), and the Toronto Blue Jays (2017). Howell played primarily as a pitcher and both batted and threw left-handed. Born on April 25, 1983, in Modesto, CA, USA, Howell was listed at 6 feet, 0 inches and 180 pounds. J. P. Howell was the playing name; the full given name is James Phillip.

Howell's career pitching line is 36 wins, 30 losses and a 3.83 ERA over 547 appearances. Howell had 566 strikeouts and 22 saves. That 3.83 ERA compares with a 4.17 league average across the same seasons, 8.0% better. Howell won 7 games in 2009, the most of any season listed. Howell struck out 92 batters in 2008, a career high.

Frequently Asked Questions about J. P. Howell

What years did J. P. Howell play?: J. P. Howell played in Major League Baseball from 2005 to 2017.
Was J. P. Howell a pitcher?: Yes. J. P. Howell pitched in the major leagues, recording 36 wins and 566 strikeouts.
How many home runs did J. P. Howell hit?: J. P. Howell hit 0 career home runs with 2 hits.
What teams did J. P. Howell play for?: J. P. Howell played for 4 teams: the Kansas City Royals (2005), the Tampa Bay Rays (2006–2009, 2011–2012), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2013–2016), and the Toronto Blue Jays (2017).
What were J. P. Howell's career stats?: In 547 games, J. P. Howell went 36-30 with a 3.83 ERA, 566 strikeouts, 619.2 innings pitched, and 22 saves.
How much did J. P. Howell earn in his career?: J. P. Howell's recorded salaries total $22,181,100 over 9 seasons, 2008 to 2016. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Howell's career ran from 2005 to 2017. His seasons after 2016 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 2005, 2006, and 2007.
What was J. P. Howell's salary?: J. P. Howell's last recorded salary was $6,250,000, in 2016. His highest recorded salary was $6,250,000, in 2016, and his lowest was $397,400, in 2008. The Salary History table lists each season from 2008 to 2016.
What position did J. P. Howell play?: J. P. Howell played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was J. P. Howell and how much did he weigh?: J. P. Howell was listed at 6 feet and 180 pounds.
What was J. P. Howell's career ERA?: J. P. Howell finished with a 3.83 career ERA, going 36-30 with 566 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did J. P. Howell have?: J. P. Howell recorded 566 career strikeouts.
Is J. P. Howell in the Hall of Fame?: No. J. P. Howell has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.