TEMPE, Ariz. – When Joe Smith was about to begin his redshirt sophomore season at Wright State, his coach saw a pitcher whose waistline was expanding as his pro prospects were shrinking.
As then-pitching coach Greg Lovelady saw it, Smith was – fitting for a guy with a name like his – nothing special.
But that began to change one day in fall practice, when Lovelady was looking for someone on the team who could become a sidearm pitcher. Smith gave it a try.
From that moment, things began to change for Smith. Less than two years later, he was a third-round draft pick. Less than three years later, he was in the major leagues.
And today, after establishing himself as one of baseball’s best setup men over the past seven big league seasons, he has a $15 million deal as the Angels count on him to be the eighth-inning bridge to closer Ernesto Frieri.
What does Smith mean to the Angels?
“A lot,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “A lot. A lot.”
Smith, who turns 30 on Saturday, is the kind of guy only a manager could love. A setup man is only noticed when he fails. There are few accolades or high fives for pitching a scoreless eighth.
Which is why his success in Cleveland didn’t earn him many headlines. There is no doubt many Angels fans probably had little prior knowledge of the guy the club signed to its largest free-agent deal this offseason.
To find out who Joseph Michael Smith is, you start with who he isn’t.
For one, he’s not fat any more.
Smith grew up around Cincinnati playing just about any sport he could. He was constantly moving, so much that he had gotten used to being able to eat whatever he wanted without gaining weight.
Then he blew out his shoulder and had surgery when he was 16. While he sat around in a sling, he couldn’t do much of anything except eat.
“I was 195 and then I went to 205 or 210, and it wasn’t good weight,” Smith said. “Then I went to college and introduced late-night food and alcohol, all that stuff that’s not good for you, and add another 10 pounds on top of that. Next thing you know I’m 228 with 18 percent body fat. I was a big boy.”
His first year at Wright State, he didn’t even make the baseball team. His second year, as his velocity started to come back, he made the team and pitched pretty well. When Lovelady arrived for Smith’s third year on campus, he saw a decent little college pitcher, nothing more.
“He was in bad shape,” Lovelady said. “He was throwing 85-87, maybe 88. A fastball and changeup and no breaking ball. He says his arm wasn’t back (from surgery) even though it had been three years. That day I would have said there was very little chance he’d be a pro guy.”
But that changed when Lovelady asked Smith if he wanted to drop down and throw sidearm. Smith took to it immediately, although he was still somewhat reluctant to try it in games.
In one of Smith’s first games the next spring – at Arizona State, just a few miles from where he’s now in camp with the Angels – he hit 90 mph and scouts were raving about him.
Although Smith said he didn’t consciously change his attitude at that moment, Lovelady said he could sense Smith found a new confidence and drive. It was as if something had suddenly clicked and a pro career was back on the table.
“As soon as that happened, he didn’t put anything in his body that wasn’t good for him,” Lovelady said. “He was always first in running. His competitiveness took over.”
The 90 mph fastballs became 91, then 92, then 93, then 94. Smith’s weight dropped.
“He changed his body and his work ethic,” Lovelady said. “He went out and had a great summer.”
The New York Mets picked Smith in the third round of the 2006 draft, and by opening day 2007 he was in the majors. Smith had a 3.49 ERA his first three years in the majors, during which he had been traded to the Indians. His delivery had been changed by coaches over the years. In 2010, when Smith began to struggle, Indians bullpen coach Scott Radinsky took Smith aside and told him to go back to what he knew from college.
“I was nervous about revamping my whole delivery in the middle of the year,” Smith said. “He said ‘Do you want to fail doing it how someone else wants you to do it? Or do you want to fail doing it how you want to do it?’<TH>”
Smith didn’t fail at all. He had an 8.10 ERA at the time he switched back to the delivery he’d used in college, and it was 2.40 for the rest of the season. Over the next three years, he had a 2.42 ERA.
When the Angels signed him, they got a pitcher they believe will fill a hole in their bullpen, and also a personality who will fit in their clubhouse. One of the themes of the Angels offseason was adding good character guys. To hear Lovelady tell it, Smith fits the bill.
“When he left here, we raved about his makeup,” said Lovelady, now head coach at Wright State. “If I had a daughter, he’s the type of guy I’d want my daughter to marry. In terms of makeup, it’s hard to find any better, in all phases, on the field and off.”
NOTES
Garrett Richards gave up one run in six innings in a Triple-A game while the most of the Angels had Tuesday off. Richards threw 88 pitches, striking out five and walking three. … Frieri also threw a scoreless inning.
Contact the writer: jlfletcher@ocregister.com
