Kansas City Royals: Every First Round Pick Since 2000

Every Royals first-round draft pick since 2000: J.P. Howell (2004)

J.P. Howell was the third guy selected in round one by the Kansas City Royals in 2004 and only spent one season in the big leagues with Kansas City.

After having a 1.96 ERA at one point in the minors in 2005, Howell got his call up to the majors and struggled. He started 15 games and had an ERA over six in 72.2 innings pitched. He only spent that one season with the Royals and then was in the majors with Tampa Bay for six years.

Howell also spent time with the Dodgers and Blue Jays, which was his most recent MLB team. He might not have had a great Royals career, but the fact that he was in the league through 2017 shows that he wasn’t a first-round bust.

His best MLB season was in 2015 with the Dodgers when he appeared in 65 games as a reliever and notched a sparkling 1.43 ERA in 44 innings. He only gave up nine runs the entire season and was one of the Dodgers’ best options out of the bullpen.

That was as good as it got for J.P. Howell, as he was a disaster with Toronto and is now playing in the Pacific Association. Hey, at least the Royals drafted someone who wasn’t a bust, even if he didn’t do all that well in the Royals system.