My Mets favorites (Mike Nickeas, Josh Thole) may not have had the greatest seasons but that doesn't mean all my favorites didn't do well this year.
Joe Smith had a great season for the Indians. At the beginning of the season Manny Acta said he would be relying on Smitty and Smitty showed Acta that wasn't a mistake.
With an adjustment back to his college mechanics he finished the season with a 2.01 ERA through 67 innings in 71 games. It was the first time he threw 60 innings since 2008 and by-far the lowest ERA of his career. He also had a career low WHIP of only 1.09. And he finally figured out how to get left-handed batters out. Lefties batted .152 against him while righties actually had a higher average, at .248. Perhaps the coolest part of his season, he didn't give up an earned run for the entire month of June.
It was awesome watching Smitty pitch this year. He was finally healthy for an entire season and he proved that he can be quite the pitcher when healthy. The entire Indians bullpen was dominant this year and I love being able to say Joe was a big part of that. The Mets never really gave him a shot, as he was part of the abused bullpens of 2007 and 2008. And apparently the Mets also messed with his mechanics which obviously didn't help anyone in the end. Smitty always had the tools to succeed. This year he found them and it worked. The pitcher that once couldn't be trusted against a lefty dominated lefties. He continued to get righties out and was great against any batter.
I know it's too late for the Mets to get him back. I am happy about that. It means he's too valuable for the Indians to give up.
The boy with an ordinary name and a not-so-ordinary delivery had an extraordinary season.
Joe Smith had a great season for the Indians. At the beginning of the season Manny Acta said he would be relying on Smitty and Smitty showed Acta that wasn't a mistake.
With an adjustment back to his college mechanics he finished the season with a 2.01 ERA through 67 innings in 71 games. It was the first time he threw 60 innings since 2008 and by-far the lowest ERA of his career. He also had a career low WHIP of only 1.09. And he finally figured out how to get left-handed batters out. Lefties batted .152 against him while righties actually had a higher average, at .248. Perhaps the coolest part of his season, he didn't give up an earned run for the entire month of June.
It was awesome watching Smitty pitch this year. He was finally healthy for an entire season and he proved that he can be quite the pitcher when healthy. The entire Indians bullpen was dominant this year and I love being able to say Joe was a big part of that. The Mets never really gave him a shot, as he was part of the abused bullpens of 2007 and 2008. And apparently the Mets also messed with his mechanics which obviously didn't help anyone in the end. Smitty always had the tools to succeed. This year he found them and it worked. The pitcher that once couldn't be trusted against a lefty dominated lefties. He continued to get righties out and was great against any batter.
I know it's too late for the Mets to get him back. I am happy about that. It means he's too valuable for the Indians to give up.
The boy with an ordinary name and a not-so-ordinary delivery had an extraordinary season.
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