The Marlins are bringing back one of their most heavily used depth arms for another stint, as they’ve re-signed lefty Devin Smeltzer to a minor league deal, according to the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll presumably be in big league camp next spring.
Smeltzer, who just turned 28 this week, had a Ryan Weber/Yankees-esque run in Miami last year. The Marlins signed him to a minor league deal over the winter and selected his contract to the Majors on four different occasions. Each call to the big leagues was followed by a DFA after an appearance or two, and Smeltzer passed through waivers and accepted outright assignments to return to the club’s Triple-A affiliate each time.
It wasn’t the most direct path to doing so, but Smeltzer still picked up about six weeks of big league service time and pitched 22 1/3 MLB frames over the course of the year. He was knocked around for a 6.45 ERA in that time and posted similar numbers in 86 innings at the Triple-A level.
Lackluster performance notwithstanding, Smeltzer has a stronger track record dating back to his days with the Twins, who originally acquired the former fifth-round pick (2016) in a trade sending Brian Dozier to the Dodgers. Smeltzer pitched 140 innings of 3.99 ERA ball for Minnesota in parts of three seasons, showing a well below-average strikeout rate (16.6%) but strong command (6.4% walk rate). Smeltzer has regularly shown good command throughout his pro career and has experience both as a starter and a reliever. The Marlins also know he’ll likely be amenable to similar up-and-down usage in 2024 if necessary, making the reunion a fairly logical one.
Good for the Fish not to let Ohtani hold up their off season plans.
Quote of the offseason so far. Where were you earlier this week when we needed someone to entertain us since the Winter Meetings were a dud because only the Yankees seem to show up for business.
For the love of Italian Beef, Jed. Please do something.
Again with Devin Smeltzer? Trying to catch lightning in a bottle, I guess.
Trying to win a AAA championship. I wonder if Daniel Castano will be there with him to get us closer to that AAA title.
@MarlinsFanBase
Hey, whatever it takes to bolster Jacksonville’s roster, right? I also noticed that Troy Johnston was left unclaimed in the Rule 5 draft and is still in the organization. Hope management is aware that this guy could be a real asset. Maybe we’ll see him with the big club as a backup 1B/DH/OF.
Devin Smeltzer article means I will again share that he is a survivor of both a devastating pediatric muscle cancer and its extremely harsh treatments. Childhood cancer research is greatly underfunded: the diseases are vastly different from adult diseases but the treatments are often the same, leading to lifelong consequences. I realize this time of year is when discretionary funds might already be allotted for, but, for those with means, please consider a donation to one of the many great foundations that invests in child cancer research (Children’s Oncology Group, Alex’s Lemonade Stand, etc.) or directly to a local research institution.
Smeltzer? I hardly knew her!