Diamondbacks Move Smith to bullpen, 3 possible replacements
By Jake Oliver
Diamondbacks move Caleb Smith to Bullpen, who replaces him?
The Arizona Diamondbacks have determined that Caleb Smith is not a fit for our rotation anymore.
According to John Gambodaro,
Torey Lovullo told @BurnsAndGambo that Caleb Smith will be taken out of the Diamondbacks rotation and will head to the bullpen. No decision yet on who replaces him in the rotation.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) August 10, 2021
This should not be surprising at all. Caleb Smith has strongly struggled the last few times out there. He started the year in the rotation, but after one start, was moved to the bullpen.
In Caleb Smith’s starts since he returned to the Starting Rotation on June 1st, these are his stats:
11 games started, 1-7, 52.2IP’s, 43 hits, 36 ERs, 31 walks, 59 K’s, 12 HR’s allowed,& a 6.15 ERA.
Now that’s rather atrocious for a Starting pitcher. Meanwhile, Caleb’s stats in the bullpen are:
18 games pitched, 2-0, 1 blown save, 30 IP’s, 24 hits, 9 ERs, 13 walks, 36 K’s, 2 HR’s allowed, & a 2.70 ERA.
Those are insanely better numbers. Caleb is a power lefty who strikes out a ton of hitters. However, he has not great command of his pitches and is known for being wild/homer prone. His stuff plays up in the bullpen though as he can throw faster and harder in small stints. He also isn’t as easily game-planned against since teams don’t know when he is pitching.
Let’s hope he can make it work again in the bullpen and provide some reliability to that bullpen.