Cleveland Indians acquire reliever Joe Smith from Blue Jays
Despite already having one of the best bullpens in baseball, the Cleveland Indians added righty Joe Smith to their talented group of late-game relievers.
First reported by Ken Rosenthal, the Cleveland Indians have acquired reliever Joe Smith from the Toronto Blue Jays. Smith is a side-arming right-handed reliever who is having one of the best seasons of his career, with a 3.28 ERA with a 2.31 FIP. He has also struck out a career-best 35.4 percent of the batters he’s faced, which ranks 15th in baseball among the 235 relievers with 20 or more innings pitched this year.
Smith is no stranger to Cleveland. He pitched for the team from 2009 to 2013 and had a 2.76 ERA in 271 innings during that time. He went to high school in Batavia, Ohio, and attended Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He’s also married to CBS Sports sideline reporter Allie LaForce, who is from Vermillion, Ohio. According to Bill Shaikin, Smith will now be within driving distance of his mother, who has Huntington’s disease. He did a fundraiser for that cause in Cleveland recently.
Joe Smith's trade to Indians puts him within driving distance of his mom, who has Huntington's disease. He did fundraiser in CLE last week.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) July 31, 2017
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As a right-handed side-armer, Smith has been much more effective against right-handed hitters than lefties in his career. His career split is a .212/284/.304 batting line allowed to righties (.265 wOBA) and .242/.337/.371 (.309 wOBA) allowed to lefties. His split is even greater this year (.229 wOBA allowed to righties, .323 wOBA allowed to lefties).
In addition to his time in Cleveland, Smith has also pitched for the Mets, Angels, Cubs and Blue Jays. He’ll join a strong Cleveland bullpen that includes the dynamic Andrew Miller (1.52 ERA, 2.00 FIP), closer Cody Allen (2.74 ERA, 3.24 FIP) and Bryan Shaw (2.90 ERA, 3.46 FIP). The team also has two other guys, Nick Goody and Zach McAllister, with ERAs under 3.00. Much like last year, they’re building a dominant bullpen for the postseason. Miller, Allen and Shaw helped get them to the cusp of a World Series championship last season. Perhaps Smith can push them over the top.
Next: Yankees acquire Sonny Gray
The Blue Jays will receive prospects Samad Taylor and Thomas Pannone. Taylor was a 10th-round pick last June who is hitting .300/.328/.467 with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in the Low-A New York-Penn League. The 18-year-old second baseman is a long way from the big leagues. Pannone is further along his professional career. The left-handed pitcher was drafted in the ninth round of the 2013 June draft and is in his fifth minor league season. He has a 3.13 ERA in 420 1/3 minor league innings, with 444 strikeouts.