Kevin Howard


Kevin C. Howard is a former professional baseball player and currently a hitting coordinator for the Cleveland Indians.

High school

Howard attended Westlake High School. In 1999, his senior campaign, Howard was named the Los Angeles Times Ventura County Player of the Year. Howard also played football at Westlake. Howard committed to attend the University of Miami.

College career

While at the University of Miami in 2000, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League. In 2001, Howard played in the 2001 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, where Miami was the tournament's champions. Howard faced off with former high school team Scott Dragicevich, who played for Stanford, in the World Series. In 2001, Howard was named to the United States national baseball team.

Professional career

Player

Howard was a fifth-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft. Howard's professional baseball career lasted 10 seasons in the minors with 14 different teams and two seasons playing in an independent league. When he retired after the 2014 season, Howard had a career minor-league average of.284 with 93 home runs and 540 RBI.

Coach

After his professional baseball career, Howard returned to the University of Miami to finish his degree in business management. While there, he was coaching at Division II Barry University when the Cleveland Indians contacted him about becoming a coach in their organization. He joined the Indians’ player development staff in 2015 as hitting coach for the short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley Scrappers.