Joe Smith (baseball)

Infobox MLB player
name=Joe Smith
position=Relief Pitcher
team=New York Mets
number=35
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1984|3|22
debutdate=April 1
debutyear=2007
debutteam=New York Mets
statyear=July 30, 2008
stat1label=Win-Loss
stat1value=9-5
stat2label=Earned Run Average
stat2value=3.51
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=97
teams=
*New York Mets (by|2007-present)

Joseph Michael Smith (born March 22, 1984 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. He is 6'2" and weighs 215 lbs. He attended Wright State University and was drafted by the Mets in the 3rd round of the June 2006 amateur draft. He was the 2nd player from the 2006 draft to make it to the major leagues. He is the son of Michael and Lee Smith, and has one younger sister, Megan Smith. His cousins Kyle, Allison and Dana Ritter are from Chicago are reportedly Joe's biggest fans. In fact, a fan club has reportedly sprouted in Saint Charles, Illinois that is headed by Kyle Ritter and Greg Ballweg. Mets fans have nicknamed him Bazooka Joe and "Mighty Joe", but his family still calls him Joseph.

High school and college years

Three year varsity letterman at Amelia High School, a Division I All-Fort Ancient Valley Conference honoree. Smith pitched 5 summer seasons with the select Midland Organization (AABC)under Jay Hayden. He was injured while pitching the summer before his junior year and 1 year later Dr. Tim Kremchek performed sugery to repair his labrum ligament. Senior season at Amelia he batted .330, played 1st base, and pitched a little for the Barons. Smith wasn't strong enough to make his Div. I Wright State team his freshman year. However, made the team as a walk-on in 2004. He was back to throwing mid to upper 80's overhand with a 1.50 era his sophomore year at WSU. In 2005, WSU assistant coach Greg Lovelady suggested Smith should drop down to a side-arm delivery, which usually adds movement and subtracts velocity. Ultimately, Smith became Wright State's closer his junior and senior year, as he gained 4-6 mph on his fastball after changing his delivery. He had 13 saves his senior season and a .98 ERA. In three seasons Smith posted 22 saves, 145 strikeouts, and 39 walks. In 2005 he was WSU team's MVP, and in 2006 he was awarded 2nd team All-Mideast Region, 1st team Horizon League, Horizon League Pitcher of the Year and Wright State Most Valuable Male Athlete.

In the summer of 2005, Smith pitched for the Rockville Express, a team in the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League (CRSCBL). Smith is the first CRSCBL player to reach the major leagues. In 2005 he made nine appearances for the Express, posting a 4.66 ERA, a 1-0 record and earning two saves. [cite web |url=http://www.ripkensrcollegebaseball.org/published/statistics/overall_stats_2005.html |title=2005 CRSCBL Statistics |accessdate=2008-03-26 ]

Pitching style

Smith's pitching style is different from most. According to hitters, he will come at you from 3rd base. His release point is about 8:30 on the analog clock, lower than side armed, and higher than submarine. Noble, Marty. [http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070219&content_id=179376&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp "Mets like what they see in Smith"] , February 19, 2007. accessed July 7, 2007.] Smith's fastball usually is at 88-92 mph and has been known to hit 94 mph. His fastball can even be considered a sinker because of its hard acting downward movement. He routinely gets ground balls because of this. Smith also throws a slider and a changeup. However, left-handed batters obviously get better reads on his motion, and thus enjoy much more success than right-handed batters.

Professional career

Joe Smith first began his career with Brooklyn (A) of the New York-Penn League by allowing two runs, one earned in 1.0 inning of work against the Staten Island Yankees on June 21. He was named one of the top 20 prospects in the New York-Penn League by Baseball America. When Duaner Sánchez was hurt during a taxi cab incident in 2006, Mets general manager Omar Minaya considered bringing up Smith to the Majors. Instead, the Mets traded for Roberto Hernández and Oliver Pérez to give Smith more time in the minorsFact|date=April 2007. On March 24, 2007, after a strong spring training, it was announced Smith would be on the Mets' 25-man roster. On April 1, 2007, Smith made his major league debut. He struck out one (Preston Wilson) and walked one (Albert Pujols). He also gave up a single to David Eckstein. Smith earned his first major league win on April 24, 2007 after coming on in relief in the 12th inning. [ [http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2007_04_24_colmlb_nynmlb_1&c_id=mlb "Mlb.com" box score] ]

References

External links

*Baseballstats |mlb=501925 |espn=28729 |br=s/smithjo05 |fangraphs=3281 |cube=s/joe-smith-2