More rest meant more strikeouts for the Tampa Bay Rays’ Drew Smyly on Wednesday. The time off seemed to boost the struggling lefty.
After a forgettable 12 outings to begin his 2016 season, the Tampa Bay Rays decided to give starting pitcher Drew Smyly a brief vacation. They skipped his turn in the rotation, and when the left-hander took the mound Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field against the Seattle Mariners, it was the first time he had done so in 10 days.
The extra rest proved to be just what the doctor ordered. Smyly turned in his most impressive showing in a while, limiting the M’s to two runs on four hits over 6.2 innings. The only damage came on a two-run homer off the bat of Nelson Cruz in the fourth inning.
However, the stat of the night as far as Smyly is concerned: He struck out 12 batters while walking none. The feat put him in some enviable company.
Drew Smyly: career-high 12 strikeouts; 5th pitcher in Rays history with a 12 K game, 0 BB game (Archer, Price, Shields, Kazmir)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 16, 2016
The dozen K’s were a career-high for Smyly, although he came close in April when he fanned 11 in back-to-back starts. The Herculean effort wasn’t enough to give the Rays an easy path to victory, however; Tampa Bay needed 13 innings to knock Seattle off by a score of 3-2.
The stellar performance was a major leap in the right direction for a hurler who has been faltering over the last month or so. In six outings dating from May 10 to June 5, Smyly posted an unsightly 7.76 ERA over 31.1 frames. Opposing hitters also feasted on him with a .341 batting average over that span.
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Extended rest has been relatively kind to Smyly throughout his five-year big league career. His first 11-strikeout outing of the year on April 13 came on eight days of rest. He held the Indians to two earned runs on three hits with one walk in seven innings.
In his career, Smyly owns a 3.91 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 35 starts on the standard four days of rest. In 18 starts on five days’ rest, those numbers improve to a 3.09 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. During 13 career outings on six days of rest or more, Smyly has pitched to a 3.84 ERA and 1.13 WHIP.
It’s hard to say that Smyly’s revitalized form on Wednesday was due solely to his mini-sabbatical. If anything, skipping him once in the rotation may have simply given him the chance to gather himself and re-focus. But whatever the reason for Smyly’s inspiring showcase, the Rays will want to see a lot more of it from the 27-year-old moving forward.
Smyly’s tenure with the Rays has had its highs and lows since he arrived in the July 2014 deadline deal that sent David Price to the Tigers. He made just 12 starts in 2015 while rehabbing a torn labrum. But overall, the southpaw has done a solid job when taking the hill for Tampa Bay, sporting a 3.42 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 4.20 K/BB ratio in 32 total starts.
As the season progresses, the Rays might consider giving Smyly an extra day or two when the schedule allows, especially if the results remain agreeable. If the team wants to stay in the AL playoff mix (they’re currently 3.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot), they will need their starting pitchers to step up.