Philadelphia Phillies reportedly sign lefty Drew Smyly
Reports July 19 have the Philadelphia Phillies signing left-hander Drew Smyly, in a move that most will see as a hopeful move to help the back-end of the rotation.
The first report of the Philadelphia Phillies signing veteran Drew Smyly came from MLB Network’s Jon Heyman and was posted with qualification by MLB.com a bit before 9 a.m., July 19. The Phillies hadn’t confirmed the report at that point, but a number of other outlets reported it as well fairly early.
Of course, this wasn’t exactly the same sort of story as Bryce Harper signing with the Phillies, but the media’s pouncing on Heyman’s report underlined the Phillies quiet desperation to find a new arm, any new arm.
About 9:30 a.m., the MLB.com story hit the official Phillies website without club confirmation, which is arguably weird.
The Phillies had been linked to a number of potential free agents, including Madison Bumgarner, Matthew Boyd, Marcus Stroman, and Mike Minor, and the possibility exists that one of these higher-profile names could still be acquired before the end of the month.
Low Risk, Possible High Reward
Smyly, 30, underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017 and had not pitched after that until this year when he appeared in 13 games for the Texas Rangers, compiling an 8.42 ERA, which comes with a t-shirt reading Low Risk – High Reward.
Joe Giglio at NJ.com notes that Smyly racked up a little better than a strikeout an inning in his 51.1 innings with Texas, and that’s actually not bad at all for someone who hadn’t faced MLB competition for quite a while. As the ERA indicates, however, when batters weren’t swinging and missing, the results weren’t very good.
Giglio figures that Smyly is probably an improvement over other potential replacements in the Phillies system for their three current back-end starters. Finally, the pitcher has the virtue of throwing with his left hand, a skill the Phillies have needed in a starter for far more than a year.
At 10:25 a.m., July 19 NBC Sports Philadelphia reported that veteran Phillies beat reporter Jim Salisbury had confirmed the hurler’s signing.
Early Promise
Before his surgery Drew Smyly was a somewhat more attractive player, going 31-27 with a 3.74 ERA in 156 appearances, including 85 starts. His best results came in the partial year 2015 with the Tampa Bay Rays, when his ERA was 3.11 in 66.2 innings, and he posted a WHIP of 1.170.
Assuming Smyly passes his physical, he will likely replace (in order of likelihood) Vince Velazquez, Nick Pivetta, or Zach Eflin in the Phillies rotation, possibly after some tune-up minor league games. Velasquez, Pivetta, and Eflin have combined for a 13-18 record this season, and their WHIPS run between 1.321 and 1.493.
Drew Smyly, even with his struggles early this season, is 32-32 lifetime and has a 1.258 WHIP. The signing will also likely move the hard-throwing Velasquez to the bullpen.