Royals' Will Smith: Throwing, but timeline uncertain
Rotowire
Smith recently resumed throwing bullpen sessions, but he's still experiencing back tightness and is without a clear timeline for a return from the 15-day injured list, MLB.com reports.
Smith had been contending with back issues for several weeks before the Royals placed him on the IL on Aug. 26. Though it's encouraging that Smith hasn't been shut down from throwing, he'll likely need the soreness in his back to subside a bit more before the Royals are comfortable bringing him back. It's unclear if Smith has a legitimate chance at being activated before the regular season ends Sept. 29.
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Royals' Will Smith: Placed on IL with back spasms
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The Royals placed Smith on the 15-day injured list Monday with low-back spasms.
Smith had been bludgeoned for 14 runs over 4.2 innings cover his last five appearances. It's not clear how long he might be sidelined. Carlos Hernandez was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to take Smith's spot on the active roster and in the bullpen.
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Royals' Will Smith: Handed loss Friday
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Smith (0-4) allowed two runs on a hit and a walk over one-third of an inning, taking the loss Friday versus the Cardinals.
Smith put two runners on base and Chris Stratton allowed both of them to score. Prior to Friday, Smith had posted a seven-inning scoreless streak. He has a 3.48 ERA over 10.1 innings since the start of July, but he remains in a low-leverage role even with the overall struggles of the Royals' bullpen. Overall, Smith is at a 4.38 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 24:14 K:BB with one save, eight holds and one blown save across 37 innings this season.
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Royals' Will Smith: Takes third loss
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Smith (0-3) allowed an unearned run on two hits and struck out one in one-third of an inning to take the loss Friday versus the Dodgers.
Smith gave up a run for the first time since May 22, though it was deemed unearned since Mookie Betts advanced to second base on an error before Freddie Freeman brought him home with an RBI single. After a rough start to the year cost him his high-leverage role, Smith has allowed just three runs (two earned) over his last 14.2 innings, though he has a mediocre 10:3 K:BB in that span. The veteran southpaw is at a 5.40 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 17:8 K:BB with one save, five holds and one blown save through 21.2 innings overall.
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Royals' Will Smith: Pulled from save situation
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Smith was removed from a save situation Friday against the White Sox. He allowed one hit and one walk while striking out one batter in one-third of an inning.
Called upon to protect a one-run lead, Smith struck out Yoan Moncada but then allowed a double and a walk to the next two batters he faced. That was enough for manager Matt Quatraro, who replaced Smith with James McArthur. The right-handed McArthur came through with a double play to secure the save, and with that, we may have witnessed a changing of the guard in the ninth inning for Kansas City. There have been no formal announcements in that regard, but Smith already had two losses, one blown save and six earned runs allowed in 2.2 innings this season before Friday's messy outing.
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Royals' Will Smith: Blows save against O's
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Smith (0-2) was charged with his first blown save of the season Wednesday and took the loss against Baltimore, giving up two runs on two hits and two walks over two-thirds of an inning. he struck out one.
Entering the game in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Royals ahead 3-2, the veteran lefty loaded the bases on two walks and a single before James McCann walked it off with a line drive to left field. Smith has had a rough start to the season, coughing up six runs in his first 2.2 innings with a 2:4 K:BB, but James McArthur is also struggling and has allowed at least one run in all three of his appearances, including a two-spot Wednesday. Should someone else in the bullpen step up, Smith's hold on the closer role for Kansas City seems tenuous at best.
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Royals' Will Smith: Notches first save
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Smith threw a scoreless ninth inning and struck out one batter to earn the save in Tuesday's 4-1 victory over the Orioles.
Smith surrendered four runs in one inning during his season debut Saturday, but he was able to shake it off and turn in a flawless outing Tuesday to pick up his first save of the new campaign. The 34-year-old seems to still be the Royals' preferred choice to handle the ninth inning, but John Schreiber, who threw a scoreless eighth inning Tuesday for his second hold of the year, and James McArthur remain in the conversation for save opportunities.
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Royals' Will Smith: Takes first loss
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Smith (0-1) was charged with the loss after he surrendered four runs on two hits and two walks during the ninth inning Saturday versus the Twins.
Smith entered for the ninth inning with the game tied 1-1 and immediately induced a groundout, but Minnesota then rallied for four runs as five of the next six batters reached base. Notably, he was lined up for the save chance before James McArthur, who is also in the mix at closer, blew a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning, but Smith's rough season debut certainly won't help his standing. John Schreiber is the third option in the potential closing committee and delivered a scoreless seventh Saturday.
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Royals' Will Smith: Light work in spring
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Smith struck out two batters over a perfect inning in his lone Cactus League appearance.
Smith is seen as the frontrunner for saves in the Royals' heavily remodeled bullpen group. He's topped 20 saves in three of the last five seasons and also has an extensive history in a setup role when he's not closing. The 34-year-old southpaw likely won't need much spring action to be ready for the campaign. Manager Matt Quatraro hasn't officially designated bullpen roles yet, but Smith's experience makes him the logical ninth-inning choice, though there are plenty of other options that could step up if this becomes a committee or performance-based closing situation.
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Royals' Will Smith: Seen as leading closing candidate
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Smith, who signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Royals in December, is viewed as the leading candidate to serve as the team's closer to begin the season, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.
Though he sacrificed more save chances to Aroldis Chapman, Jose Leclerc and Josh Sborz toward the end of the 2023 campaign, Smith still converted 22 of his 27 save opportunities over 60 appearances with Texas during the regular season and turned in solid peripherals (3.28 xERA, 1.06 WHIP, 16.8 K-BB%) over his 57.1 innings. Smith's left-handedness has occasionally worked against him at various points in his career of capturing a full-time closing role, but he should have a clearer path to the ninth-inning gig while he's part of a Kansas City bullpen that's lacking in much established talent. James McArthur and Nick Anderson probably represent the top threats to challenge him for the closing gig, but Smith's strong track record as well as his bigger contract than the other two helps his case for holding down the fort at the back end of the bullpen. Royals manager Matt Quatraro will likely shed more light on his plans at closer as spring training unfolds, but for now, fantasy players should draft Smith as the presumptive favorite to see the bulk of the save chances.
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Royals' Will Smith: Returning to Kansas City
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Smith agreed to a one-year, $5 million contract with the Royals on Sunday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
The veteran left-hander made his MLB debut with the Royals back in 2012 and will make a return to the organization more than a decade later. Smith recorded 22 saves with the Rangers last season but struggled down the stretch and fell out of the closer role ahead of the playoffs. He finished the year with a 4.40 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 55:17 K:BB across 57.1 innings, and he could be in the mix for saves with Kansas City in 2024.
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Rangers' Will Smith: Makes scoreless appearance
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Smith allowed one walk and struck out one over a scoreless eighth inning in Tuesday's 9-3 loss to the Angels.
Smith, who normally works as setup reliever when the Rangers are leading, made a low-leverage appearance following a rough stretch. The left-hander was tagged for six runs on six hits and three walks over his previous three outings. It's unclear whether using Smith in a mop-up role was a way to give him a positive feeling about an outing or if it was because he hadn't thrown in five days. It may have been a little of both.
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Rangers' Will Smith: Takes loss Saturday
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Smith (2-6) was tagged with Saturday's loss, allowing two runs on one hit and one walk over two-thirds of an inning against Cleveland.
The Rangers clung to a 1-0 lead when Smith, who finished up the bottom of the seventh inning, opened eighth. He allowed two baserunners that eventually scored off Jose Leclerc. Smith has pitched well in a setup role since Aroldis Chapman became the primary closer; Saturday's outing halted a streak of seven consecutive scoreless appearances.
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Rangers' Will Smith: Gives up winning knock
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Smith allowed one run on one hit over one inning in Thursday's 7-5 loss to the Twins.
The Rangers' bullpen blew another lead, although the save was blown by, and the loss credited to, Josh Sborz prior to Smith entering the game with the bases loaded and no outs. Smith's contributions to the loss was to give up a two-run home run to pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers. This was the sixth time in the last eight appearances that Smith has allowed a run, and the Rangers' closer has a 14.21 ERA with two losses and two blown saves during that run. Texas manager Bruce Bochy has not indicated a change is brewing at closer, but Aroldis Chapman would be the most likely candidate to take over should Smith be removed from the role.
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Rangers' Will Smith: Fastball command off
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Texas manager Bruce Bochy said Smith's recent bout of ineffectiveness was due to lack of command of his fastball, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. "It's kind of been a one-plane pitch instead of working the four different quadrants of the strike zone," the manager said. "We need to get back and locate that fastball. Command, as I've said many times, is more important than velocity."
Smith has blown two saves and sports a 15.19 ERA over his last seven outings. He agreed with the manager that location is the reason for the recent struggles. Bochy did not give a clear answer when discussing the closing role, but the manager had Aroldis Chapman attempt to close Monday's game, which eventually went to extra innings where Smith blew the save. There was a stretch earlier this month when it looked like the back end of the bullpen was set with Josh Sborz, Chapman and Smith, in that order. However, recent events mean fantasy managers should understand that Smith is not guaranteed to close every game. The Rangers are off Wednesday, and the manager hopes the bullpen can reset.
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Rangers' Will Smith: Struggles again Monday
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Smith (1-5) blew a save and took the loss against the Diamondbacks on Monday, allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits and one walk over two-thirds of an inning.
There may be some noise around the fact that Texas manager Bruce Bochy elected to go to Aroldis Chapman rather than Smith with the Rangers up 1-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, though Chapman was unable to seal the deal. When the Rangers took a two-run lead in the top of the 11th, Smith got his save opportunity after all, but he also blew it, allowing back-to-back two-out doubles to allow three runs to cross the plate. It's been a rough stretch of late for the veteran reliever, as he's posted a 15.19 ERA, 2.25 WHIP and two blown saves over his past seven outings. Chapman, by contrast, has allowed just one run while registering a 19:3 K:BB over 10 innings through 10 appearances in August, so Monday's developments may be more than just a one-game thing, though there's been no official word of Smith moving out of the closer role.
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Rangers' Will Smith: Appears in non-save situation
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Smith allowed three runs on four hits and struck out one over two-thirds of an inning in Sunday's 6-2 loss to Milwaukee.
The Rangers expended several relievers in Friday's loss, when Andrew Heaney lasted 3.2 innings, then needed the bullpen again Sunday with Max Scherzer chased after 3.2 innings. In between, Dane Dunning went just five innings Saturday. All that bullpen usage added up to manager Bruce Bochy using his closer, Smith, in the eighth inning of 3-1 game. Unfortunately for the Rangers, who were swept by the Brew Crew, he could not survive a couple of infield hits and a throwing error. Smith has been reliable for the Rangers, but he's had a rough stretch of late. The 34-year-old reliever has given up runs in five of the last nine outings, posting a 9.39 ERA during that stretch. It hasn't hurt the Rangers much, as Smith converted five saves in six chances.
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Rangers' Will Smith: Takes loss Sunday
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Smith (1-4) allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit while striking out a batter in two-thirds of an inning Sunday against the Giants. He blew the save and took the loss.
Smith was called upon to protect a one-run lead in the 10th and nearly accomplished it after retiring the first two batters he faced. The lefty made a good pitch with an inside fastball to Patrick Bailey, but Bailey jumped on it and just cleared the fence in left field to give the Giants the win. Sunday was Smith's first blown save and loss since July 3 even though he's allowed runs in three of his last four outings. Aroldis Chapman has thrown six shutout innings while recording a 15:2 K:BB this month and could be making a case to get a look at the closer role if Smith's struggles continue.
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Rangers' Will Smith: Yields run, secures 22nd save
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Smith allowed a run on one hit in one inning to earn the save in Friday's 2-1 win over the Giants.
Smith has given up four runs over his last six innings, but he's been able to protect leads all the same with five saves in that span. The southpaw gave up a double and an RBI groundout in Friday's somewhat shaky outing. Smith is up to 22 saves in 24 chances with a 3.14 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 43:10 K:BB through 43 innings this season as the Rangers' closer.
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Rangers' Will Smith: Rallies for save No. 20
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Smith gave up two runs on one hit and one walk in the ninth inning Saturday but still recorded his 20th save of the season in a 9-8 win over the Marlins.
A one-out, two-run homer by Jake Burger ramped up the pressure on the veteran lefty, but Smith got soft contact out of the next two batters to preserve the Rangers' fifth straight win. The long ball was the first he'd served up since June 14, with Smith posting a 1.93 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 13:1 K:BB through 14 innings in between. Despite the late June addition of Aroldis Chapman to the Texas bullpen, Smith's hold on the closer role has been secure, and he still appears to have a shot at collecting 30 saves in a season for the third time in his career.
