With the injury to Tony Cingrani, even though he doesn’t seem to think it is worth a trip to the disabled list, the Reds may need another starting pitcher in just over two weeks if they still don’t believe that Cingrani is ready. While the Reds have a few options on the 40-man roster, the starters that are healthy have not been the most consistent bunch. Maybe if it is just for a spot start they could choose one of those guys either way, but if they need someone more reliable or for a few starts, they may look outside of the 40-man roster. Down in Triple-A there seem to be two options that stand out. LHP Jeff Francis and RHP Josh Smith. Francis has been around the big leagues for a while and is more known, while Smith has never pitched in the big leagues.
The 26-year-old has a 2.20 ERA in 32.2 innings pitched this season with 12 walks and 29 strikeouts. For his minor league career he has a 3.19 ERA in 515.2 innings with 157 walks and 517 strikeouts. The numbers have been fantastic and he hasn’t struggled at any level, with only the California League leading to an ERA over 3.26 as he posted a 3.80 ERA going through that league (league ERA that season was 4.73).
We know that the numbers are good. But what about the stuff? Let’s jump into that and take a look.
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Last night I sat down to rewatch the start that Smith made for Louisville earlier in the evening. He allowed just one run in seven innings with four walks and five strikeouts. The walks were quite high for him, as he normally doesn’t struggle to throw strikes. All four walks came in the first three innings, after that he settled in very well and allowed just a seeing-eye single from the 4th-7th inning.
Fastball | This pitch works in the 87-90 MPH range. When it has some cut to it it will be 85-86, but it will touch 91-92 every now and again as well.
Curveball | The best pitch that Smith brings to the table and it has been since he was drafted. With 12-6 breaking action, it drops off of the table. He throws it in the mid 70’s and will throw it in any count.
Change Up | The third pitch in the arsenal, while not as good as the curveball, is a quality pitch on its own with good arm action and some fading action in the 78-81 MPH range.
Other | There may be a slider in there as well, though it may have just been a curveball or two that moves slightly different. The announcer seemed to call quite a few curveballs as sliders during the game, but I only saw two or three breaking balls that could have been possible sliders. What makes Smith so successful despite below-average fastball velocity though is that he has two good offspeed pitches to go along with that fastball and he can locate all of his pitches where and when he wants. He mixes things up well, will throw all pitches in all counts and keeps hitters off balance.
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