Diamondbacks 2022 Season Player Reviews: Caleb Smith

A good season out of the bullpen ends in a torn elbow ligament and a clouded future

© Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Status: Arbitration Two, $2,000,000

Year	Games	Innings	Record	ERA	FIP	Avg WAR	BABIP	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9
2022	44	70	1-3	4.11	5.57	-.35	.235	1.8	5.0	8.4
Career	147	447	20-30	4.55	5.04	2.3	.252	1.7	4.4	9.6

2022 Diamondbacks Season Reviews

Season Review

Left hander Caleb Smith was drafted by the Yankees in 2013 and bounced around a bit between a few organizations before settling in with the Marlins for the 2018-19 seasons as a starting pitcher. He had some success there, making 44 starts and going 15-17 with a 4.41 ERA. But in a sign of things to come, struggled with the long ball.

The Diamondbacks acquired him along with a couple of pitching prospects at the 2020 trade deadline for Starling Marte. His start with his new team was delayed however due to being on the  Covid-19 IL for over a month. He finally made his Diamondbacks debut on September 11, 2020. He showed some promise working in short outings, getting into  four games and throwing 11 innings with a 2.57 ERA

In 2021 he made the starting rotation, but after a single disastrous start he was moved to the bullpen where he remained the rest of the year. 2022 started out exactly the same way. He made a start on April 10th against the Padres, lasting just one inning and giving up five runs and was immediately sent to the bullpen. In his first relief outing he gave up five more runs in three innings against the Mets. Through two games he had pitched 4 four innings and gave up 10 runs, nine earned and had a 20.25 ERA. That got him demoted to the minor leagues to work out his issues. 

A funny thing happened from there though. Recalled on May 1st, he became a reliable middle inning and long man for manager Torey Lovullo. Often coming in when the starter could not go long or when the team really needed innings, he was very effective. In 28 games between May 1st and July 27th he threw 42.1 innings and had a 2.98 ERA.  He did give up seven homers, but otherwise limited damage and kept the team in games. 

On July 30th he had a rough outing however, giving up two runs to the Braves in a 6-5 loss. After his outing he punched a wall in frustration with his non throwing hand and broke the knuckle on his pinky finger. That required surgery and he was out until August 29th. 

Smith pitched well for the rest of the season. appearing in 13 more games and throwing 21.2 innings with a 2.91 ERA.  That lowered his ERA all the way down from 20.25 on April 15th to 4.11 on October 5th. It was a successful season, but there were some underlying issues as well, including a 1.8 HR/9 ratio and a high walk rate, resulting in a higher FIP than ERA. 

2023 Outlook

Unfortunately in the very last game of the season Smith had to be removed from the game mid outing with an apparent elbow injury. It didn't look good at the time, and as reported yesterday by AZ Central's Nick Piecoro, Smith had torn his left elbow ligament. After receiving multiple opinions, Smith has decided not to have Tommy John surgery and will attempt to rehab the injury. 

This throws his status into question, as it now seems like the Diamondbacks will choose to non-tender him rather than offer him a contract in his final year of arbitration. Smith was scheduled to be a free agent after the 2023 season. It now seems likely free agency will come early for the left hander and he and the D-backs will part ways.