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Drew Smyly

Phillies Announce Drew Smyly Signing, Designate Fernando Salas

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The Phillies announced the signing of left-hander Drew Smyly, who will start Sunday. The club designated reliever Fernando Salas for assignment to make room for Smyly.

This is already the second time the Phillies have designated Salas since signing him to a minor league contract June 7. As was the case before, the 34-year-old will have the option of declining an outright assignment to the minors if he clears waivers. Salas hasn’t been part of the solution for the Phillies’ bullpen, though he has only thrown 2 2/3 major league innings this year.

Desperate for help in their starting staff, the playoff-contending Phillies are now turning to the once-respectable Smyly at the expense of Salas’ roster spot. The 30-year-old Smyly endured a disastrous stint earlier this season as a member of the Rangers, with whom he mustered an 8.42 ERA/8.06 FIP in 51 1/3 innings. Smyly then joined the Brewers on a minors pact July 1, but he opted out of it Thursday to accept another big league chance with the Phillies.

Phillies Move Nick Pivetta To Bullpen

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The Phillies will shift righty Nick Pivetta into the bullpen, manager Gabe Kapler tells reporters including Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). He’ll be available in a relief capacity beginning this evening.

This’ll be the second time that the 26-year-old has been bumped from his rotation spot. The first time, he was sent down to Triple-A in hopes he’d be able to work out the kinks. Pivetta has mostly struggled since returning to the majors and currently owns a 5.74 ERA over 69 innings, with 7.6 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 and 16 long balls marring his record.

The expectation is that lefty Drew Smyly will step right into the open rotation spot. His recently reported deal still is not official, but he’s now clearly destined to move onto the MLB roster if and when it hits the book.

Pivetta threw 2 1/3 hitless innings before his latest appearance was interrupted by rain, but he also allowed four walks to go with his four strikeouts. He’s now carrying an ugly 15:13 K/BB ratio in his past 24 frames over a five-start stretch. After turning in a 12.0% swinging-strike rate in 2018, he’s sitting at 9.3% this year.

It’ll be interesting to see how the hard-throwing Pivetta functions in a relief role. Already a hard thrower, with a fastball that has traditionally been clocked at around 95 mph, it’s certainly possible his stuff will play up in shorter bursts. Whether the Phils will consider utilizing him in a multi-inning capacity remains to be seen.

The Phillies are also curious to find out what they’ll get. Kapler says the team elected to bump Pivetta to a relief role rather than Vince Velasquez because the latter has already shown the organization what he looks like in each spot. (Via Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, on Twitter.)

Even as they hope for a boost from Smyly, the Phillies are said to be looking hard at other possible rotation upgrades. Given the team’s situation in the standings, though, it’s arguable that it shouldn’t push too hard for near-term improvements. It seems likely that the club will target hurlers who are controllable and/or require mostly cash (rather than prospects) to acquire.

Phillies To Sign Drew Smyly

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9:15am: Smyly could make a start for the Phillies as soon as this weekend, tweets Matt Gelb of The Athletic. That’d certainly suggest that his agreement with Philadelphia is of the Major League variety.

6:56am: The Phillies have agreed to a contract with left-hander Drew Smyly, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (via Twitter). Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reported last night that Smyly, who opted out of a minor league deal with the Brewers yesterday, was drawing interest from the Phils.

Smyly opened the season with the Rangers, who acquired him at the beginning of the 2018-19 offseason when the Cubs needed to shed his salary in order to exercise their option on Cole Hamels. Smyly had signed a two-year, $10MM contract with Chicago, knowing that his first season would be spent rehabbing from 2017 Tommy John surgery.

At the time, the deal looked like a potential high-reward pickup for Texas. Smyly had solid career numbers prior to his surgery — 3.74 ERA, 8.7 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 — and had shown a penchant for missing bats while limiting walks. A return to that form would’ve given the Rangers at least a solid trade chip and at best could’ve fueled a surprise postseason push.

Instead, the Rangers received a worst-case scenario. In his first MLB work since that Tommy John operation, Smyly was hammered for an 8.42 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 6.0 BB/9 and an eye-popping 3.33 HR/9 mark. Home runs have always been a bit of an issue for Smyly, an extreme fly-ball pitcher, but the league-wide home run boom has proven particularly problematic for the southpaw. Texas ultimately released him last month, and Milwaukee picked him up on a minor league deal on July 1.

His time with the Brewers was brief but a bit more encouraging. Smyly made three starts with Milwaukee’s top affiliate in San Antonio, where he allowed seven runs on 10 hits (two homers) and three walks with 18 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings of work.

Philadelphia currently has an all-right-handed rotation, and they’ve received particularly shaky work from fourth and fifth starters Nick Pivetta (5.74 ERA in 69 innings) and Vince Velasquez (4.97 ERA in 50 2/3 innings). The Phillies have also gotten 10 starts out of Jerad Eickhoff (5.40 ERA) and three from Cole Irvin (5.60 ERA) with little success to show for it. While Smyly himself is somewhat of a shot in the dark at this point, there’s little harm in taking a look to see if he can help the big league club. The Rangers are on the hook for Smyly’s salary, so the Phillies need only pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the active roster.

Drew Smyly Elects Free Agency

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5:29pm: The Phillies have interest in Smyly, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury (Twitter link).

1:10pm: Veteran left-hander Drew Smyly has opted out of his minor league contract with the Brewers, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (on Twitter). Smyly had signed a minor league pact with Milwaukee back on July 1 after being cut loose from the Rangers.

Smyly made three starts with Milwaukee’s top affiliate in San Antonio, where he allowed seven runs on 10 hits (two homers) and three walks with 18 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings of work. It’s a small but slightly more encouraging showing than he had with Texas earlier in the year. Smyly, pitching in the big leagues for the first time since 2017 Tommy John surgery, was tattooed for an 8.42 ERA in 51 1/3 innings as a Ranger. While he averaged better than a strikeout per inning there, Smyly also walked 34 batters (6.0 BB/9) and served up a staggering 19 home runs (3.33 HR/9).

Prior to undergoing surgery, Smyly displayed a knack for missing bats and strong control skills, but home runs have long been an issue for him. He’s always been an extreme fly-ball pitcher, and the league-wide uptick in home runs hasn’t done him any favors in 2019. Smyly’s average fastball velocity is back to its career norm, and he’s avoided any trips to the injured list thus far, so it seems as though he’s back to full strength following that surgery. He’ll head back to the open market in search of a new opportunity with a club that has its eyes on some affordable rotation depth; any team that signs Smyly would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent in the Majors.

Brewers Sign Drew Smyly

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The Brewers announced today that they have signed southpaw Drew Smyly to a minor-league deal. He had previously been designated for assignment and then released by the Rangers.

Smyly is due $7MM in total this year, but that cost will all be borne by the Texas organization except for any pro-rated portion of the league minimum that Smyly may command if he’s called up. It’s essentially a zero-risk roll of the dice for the Milwaukee outfit. The southpaw will jump into the club’s Triple-A rotation, per GM David Stearns (via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, on Twitter).

The once-strong starter is still only thirty years of age — he just celebrated his birthday, in fact — but hasn’t turned in a healthy and effective campaign in quite some time. He was good in limited action in 2015, struggled through thirty starts in 2016, and then missed all of the ensuing two seasons.

Smyly was able to take the mound this year after a lengthy rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery. And he had his fastball back at his typical ~91mph level. But Smyly was having no success fooling big league hitters, who banged 19 home runs in his 51 1/3 innings. He carries an 8.42 ERA with a 52:34 K/BB ratio on the season.

Rangers Designate Drew Smyly

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The Rangers announced today that they have designated veteran pitcher Drew Smyly for assignment. His 40-man and active roster spots will go to fellow lefty Locke St. John, whose contract was selected.

In a pair of other moves also involving southpaw hurlers, the Texas club called up Kyle Bird and optioned Joe Palumbo.

While rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, Smyly signed a two-year, $10MM deal with the Cubs in anticipation of a full and productive 2019 season. The Rangers acquired that contract last fall, installing the lefty in a rotation full of salvaged former quality starters.

Unfortunately, Smyly’s attempt to come back after two missed campaigns has simply not gone as hoped. He has been torched for 8.42 earned runs per nine in 51 1/3 innings on the season, with his struggles continuing after a move to the bullpen.

Though Smyly is back to his customary 91 mph fastball range, he’s having a hard time coaxing hitters to offer at pitches out of the zone (22.4% chase rate). With batters not being fooled by the breaking stuff, they’re having an easy time drawing walks (just under six per nine) from the typically under-control Smyly. And they are teeing off on his mistakes, having already launched 19 long balls against him.

Still only thirty years of age, Smyly may well have a second act left. He was at times a highly effective starter with the Tigers and Rays. If he’s to get back on track, though, it’ll likely mean spending some time working on things at an extended spring facility and then earning another shot at the big leagues through some time in the minors.

Rangers Move Drew Smyly To Bullpen

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The Rangers have decided to bump lefty Drew Smyly to the bullpen, the club informed reporters including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). A replacement starter has yet to be named.

It’s not surprising to hear this news, as the club strongly hinted a change would be made after another exceedingly rough outing from Smyly, who turns 30 tomorrow. There had been some suggestion that an ankle injury might lead to an injured-list placement, but the Rangers decided instead to slide him into a relief role for the time being.

Smyly has simply been tagged this year. Through 45 innings, he has coughed up 15 home runs and carries a 44:31 K/BB ratio. Opposing hitters are spitting on pitches out of the zone (22.4% chase rate) and destroying those in it (43.1% hard-hit rate). Though Statcast indicates he has been a bit unfortunate (.419 wOBA-against versus .385 xwOBA-against), it’s scant consolation.

This decision hints at the tough questions facing the Rangers, who’ve run out to a 36-30 record that seems tough to sustain. The rotation has received a bit of a boost from Adrian Sampson and Ariel Jurado, but it’s hard to count on either to provide even solid results the rest of the way. Even assuming those two can keep up reasonably useful production, and there aren’t any injuries, there’s a need for at least one additional rotation piece behind Mike Minor and Lance Lynn.

It’s also rough news for Smyly, who had hoped to be in the midst of a return to his prior form at this stage of the season. He missed all of 2017 and 2018 owing to serious elbow problems that resulted in Tommy John surgery. He’ll be a free agent again at season’s end.

Latest On Drew Smyly, Rangers’ Rotation

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Rangers left-hander Drew Smyly turned in his latest disastrous performance Sunday during a 9-8 loss to the Athletics, who clobbered him for five earned runs on six hits (including a pair of home runs) and two walks in three innings. Smyly now owns an 8.40 ERA/7.66 FIP in 45 innings this year, and his already tenuous grip on a rotation spot is getting weaker.

Given that Smyly suffered an ankle sprain last month and hasn’t fully healed, the Rangers are at least considering placing him on the 10-day injured list, manager Chris Woodward said (via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). Regardless, the playoff-contending Rangers could acquire a starter, which would enable them to eject Smyly from their rotation. The club may be seeking “external possibilities,” Grant writes, but general manager Jon Daniels doesn’t seem optimistic about landing anyone so far in advance of the July 31 trade deadline.

“We don’t have a lot of options. There’s not a ton of pitching readily available,” Daniels said.

As things stand, lefty prospect Joe Palumbo – who made a shaky MLB debut in a win over Oakland this past Saturday – remains their most likely Smyly replacement. Meanwhile, fellow Double-A starter Jonathan Hernandez is not yet on the Rangers’ radar for a promotion, reports Grant, who also names Triple-A righty Seth Maness as a potential call-up. Maness, 30, is a longtime reliever who has never made a start in 252 major league appearances, but he’s working exclusively out of the rotation in the minors and averaging just under six innings per appearance this season. Promoting Maness would require the Rangers to add him to their 40-man roster, Grant notes.

If the Rangers do drop Smyly in favor of Palumbo or Maness, it would still be hard to have much confidence in the back of their rotation. Mike Minor, Lance Lynn, Adrian Sampson and Ariel Jurado have all impressed (in a limited sample size in the latter’s case), though the Rangers are likely going to need another competent starter in order to maintain a playoff spot. While the Rangers didn’t enter 2019 looking like postseason contenders, they’re 35-30 with a plus-33 run differential and hold a two-game lead on the AL’s final wild-card spot. That could lead Daniels to buy going up to the deadline, when Matthew Boyd, Madison Bumgarner, Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez might be among available starters. However, whether Texas will like its chances enough to make a significant acquisition along those lines is anyone’s guess.

Drew Smyly Struggling In Return From Tommy John Surgery

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After back-to-back injury-wrecked seasons in Seattle and Chicago, left-hander Drew Smyly joined the Rangers via trade with the Cubs last November. The transaction all but completed the teams’ midsummer deal centering on southpaw Cole Hamels, and it was a bit of an eye-opener that the Cubs parted with Smyly. The 29-year-old has been a more-than-capable big leaguer for most of his career, after all, but the Cubs – who wanted to cut unnecessary payroll – deemed him and his $7MM salary expendable.

Smyly never threw a pitch for Chicago after it signed him to a two-year, $10MM guarantee in December 2017. The Cubs’ hope at the time was Smyly would eventually recover from the Tommy John surgery he underwent as a member of the Mariners in June 2017 and return to his past form. The Rangers had the same hope when they acquired Smyly, but the union between the two sides hasn’t worked out to this point, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News explains.

In his most recent start of the year, Smyly turned in 3 1/3 innings of seven-earned run, eight-hit ball and allowed three homers in a loss to the lowly Orioles on Tuesday. Smyly has now taken the ball 10 times (eight starts) with Texas, and most of his outings have been middling to poor. He’s now running a 7.93 ERA/7.35 FIP with 8.79 K/9, 6.21 BB/9, a 27.3 percent groundball rate and a 20.3 percent home run-to-fly ball rate in 42 innings. Those numbers are a far cry from the production Smyly registered with the Tigers and Rays from 2014-16, a 77-start, 388-inning span in which he managed a 4.01 ERA/4.16 FIP with 8.58 K/9 and 2.55 BB/9. Smyly didn’t generate many grounders then, as shown by his 34 percent rate, but he helped limit homers (11.9 HR/FB%) with the majors’ leading infield fly percentage (15.3). He’s down to 7.1 percent in that category this season.

Even though there hasn’t been a change in Smyly’s velocity from 2016 to this year, it’s clear nothing is working in his return from TJ surgery. And with the Rangers surprisingly sitting at 30-28 and in a tie for the American League’s second wild-card spot, they may have to bounce Smyly out of their rotation to make a Cinderella run. However, that’s not going to happen yet, manager Chris Woodward said after Smyly’s start Tuesday (via Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram). Woodward has shown a willingness to make such a move, having shifted Shelby Miller – another offseason addition with a notable injury history – to the Rangers’ relief unit last month. It’s a small sample, but Miller has logged much better results as a reliever than a starter this season.

The Rangers’ reluctance to pull the plug on the Smyly experiment stems from a lack of alternatives, suggests Grant, who names only Double-A starters Joe Palumbo and Jonathan Hernandez as realistic in-house replacements. Palumbo, a 24-year-old lefty whom MLB.com considers the Rangers’ seventh-best prospect, has produced good results this season. Hernandez has a 5.47 ERA, on the other hand, but the 22-year-old has racked up a solid amount of strikeouts and grounders. At No. 8, Hernandez falls right behind Palumbo on MLB.com’s list of Rangers prospects. Nevertheless, the team doesn’t seem inclined to rush either to the majors, even as it clings to a playoff spot.

In the event Texas stays in the race over the next month and a half but still doesn’t find an inside replacement for Smyly, it could consider the trade market. General manager Jon Daniels has made it known the Rangers will be aggressive spenders heading into a new ballpark next season, so it could make sense to acquire a starter who’s under control past this year. In doing so, the Rangers would ideally better their playoff odds this season while strengthening their roster for 2020. Blue Jays righties Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez spring to mind as controllable upgrades who could be on the move in the coming weeks. Detroit lefty Matt Boyd would require a lot more than Stroman or Sanchez in return if the Tigers were to move him, but he’s someone who’d be worth inquiring about from the Rangers’ perspective.

For now, the Rangers will continue with the rotation they have. It’s not the most confidence-inspiring group, but there have been bright spots. Two of Daniels’ reasonably priced free-agent pickups, Mike Minor (two offseasons ago) and Lance Lynn (last winter), have lived up to their contracts. Ariel Jurado has pitched well, albeit over just three starts, and Adrian Sampson has been effective of late. But the Rangers’ starting five is difficult to trust after Minor and Lynn, especially because of Smyly’s struggles, and the unit’s shakiness will make it tough for the team to snap its two-year playoff drought this season.

West Injury Notes: Pollock, Tatis, Olson, Holland, Smyly

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With center fielder A.J. Pollock having undergone right elbow surgery Thursday, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and other reporters that adding another righty-hitting outfielder “would be ideal.” However, Friedman noted the Dodgers “have a fairly high bar with our mindset being to giving our current guys more of a runway.” Even without Pollock, the Dodgers have no shortage of quality outfield options at the big league level, though nearly all of them hit from the left side. Pollock could come back later in the season to balance out the group, but there’s still no timetable for his return. For now, Pollock’s “resting and recovering” in the wake of surgery, per manager Dave Roberts.

  • Padres manager Andy Green expressed optimism Saturday that shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. will come off the injured list in relatively short order, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. Tatis went down with a hamstring strain Tuesday, meaning he’s eligible to return as early as May 10. When he does come back, the 20-year-old rookie will try to pick up where he left off before the injury sidelined him. Tatis has burst on the scene by slashing .300/.360/.550 with six home runs and six steals in 111 plate appearances.
  • Injured first baseman Matt Olson could rejoin the Athletics as early as Tuesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle relays. The 25-year-old slugger has only totaled six plate appearances this season as a result of late-March surgery on his right hand, an injury that spurred the A’s to acquire Kendrys Morales from the Blue Jays. Morales has since amassed more appearances at first than any other Athletic, but the 35-year-old switch hitter has batted an uninspiring .200/.310/.271 with just one home run in 100 trips to the plate.
  • Giants left-hander Derek Holland will come off the injured list Wednesday for a start in Colorado, according to manager Bruce Bochy (via Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group). It’ll amount to a short stay on the IL for Holland, who landed on the shelf April 29 because of a bruised left index finger. Holland, 32, revived his career with the Giants last season, which convinced the team to re-sign him to a one-year, 7MM guarantee over the winter. The investment hasn’t paid off in the early going for San Francisco, as Holland has only managed a 5.34 ERA/5.15 FIP in 32 frames.
  • Texas will activate southpaw Drew Smyly from the IL to start Sunday against Toronto, Rangers executive vice president of communications John Blake announced. The oft-injured Smyly, who missed 2017-18 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, has been on the IL since April 20 because of mid-arm nerve tightness in his left arm. While the 29-year-old seems to have dodged a serious ailment this time, his return from TJ surgery has been a struggle thus far. Smyly has averaged fewer than four innings a start across four tries and posted a 7.80 ERA with six walks per nine and a meager 26.7 percent groundball rate.

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