The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Smith back with Tribe
The Indians beat the 4 p.m. trading deadline July 31 by acquiring right-handed relief pitcher Joe Smith from the Blue Jays for a pair of minor leaguers.
Smith, 33, pitched for the Indians from 2009-13. He has appeared in 38 games with the Blue Jays this season.
He has 51 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings. He has issued 10 walks and given up three home runs and has a 3.28 ERA.
“We’re excited to welcome Joe back to the organization,” Indians president Chris Antonetti said on a conference call. “Joe is an extraordinary fit on our team. We have a great deal of respect for him as an influence in the clubhouse and a team need, but he’s also been a really effective reliever we think complements our group really well.
“He’s one of the most effective pitchers in baseball against right-handed hitters. Hopefully he can come in and pitch meaningful spots in our bullpen. We think it adds more depth to the group of guys we have.”
Smith, in his 11th season, has a lifetime record of 4428 in 152 appearances, all in relief. He has a career 2.95 ERA.
Acquiring Smith will take some of the load off Bryan Shaw as well as Cody Allen and Andrew Miller, but particularly Shaw.
Shaw, with 50 appearances in 2017, has been in more games than any other Indians pitcher this season. That is nothing new for the Indians’ setup man. He appeared in at least 70 games in each of the four seasons prior to 2017 — the only pitcher in Tribe history to do so. Shaw is 4-5 with a 2.90 ERA this season. He has two saves in
four save opportunities and has 38 strikeouts/18 walks allowed in 49 2/3 innings.
“That was part of our hope with this,” Antonetti said. “As we looked at our options, we did want to find a guy that could fit in with that group and hopefully in certain situations maybe take some pressure off of them. If Joe can eat up some of those outs and take some of the workload off those other guys, that would definitely be a benefit.”
The Indians sent lefthanded starting pitcher Tom Pannone and shortstop Samad Taylor to the Blue Jays for Smith.
Pannone is 4-0 with the Akron RubberDucks. He struck out seven without allowing a walk in 6 1/3 innings July 29.
Pannone was a ninthround draft choice in 2013. He has pitched 58 innings for Akron in 10 starts since being called up May 30 and has a 2.48 ERA.
Taylor, 19, is hitting .317 for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. He has one
home run and 11 RBI in 41 at bats. He was a 10thround draft choice in 2016.
In other news, the Indians placed starting pitcher Josh Tomlin on the 10day disabled list with a strained left hamstring and called up left-hander reliever Tyler Olson from Columbus.
The Indians will have to make another roster move to add Smith to the 25-man roster.
Tomlin was removed while warming up in the bottom of the fifth inning in the July 30 game with the White Sox. The Indians were leading, 1-0 at the time.
The Indians on July 31 begin their toughest stretch of the season while clinging to a two-game lead over Kansas City in the American League Central Division. Twenty-six of their next 29 games are against teams with winning records. In that stretch, they play the Red Sox and Yankees seven times each and the Royals six times. They also play the Rockies twice and the Rays twice.