Player Data: Age: 28 (9/24/1993), B/T: R/R
Primary Stats: 31 G, 41 1/3 IP, 3-1 W/L record, 2.40 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 41 K, 2.56 SO/BB
Advanced Stats: 0.8 bWAR, 0.1 fWAR, 168 ERA+, 4.69 FIP, 0.3 WPA
2021 salary: $574,500
Grade: B
2021 Review
Despite missing all of April and September, Drew Smith proved to be an effective reliever when he found himself on the active roster. After finally making his season debut on May 12, Smith had a solid opening month outside of taking the loss against Miami. In that 3-1 loss, Smith allowed a walk-off homer, which was the only dinger he allowed during 6 1/3 innings pitched in May.
His other four appearances during that initial month were scoreless outings. By June, Smith began to demonstrate his effectiveness in pitching multiple innings. He reached the two-inning mark on four occasions in the month, allowing no runs in all but one of those games. Against the eventual-World Series champion Atlanta Braves on June 22, Smith tossed two hitless innings, allowing just one walk and striking out three batters.
July brought continued success, as Smith pitched to a 2.81 ERA in 16 innings across the month. He continued to be a reliable pitcher that could eat multiple innings, doing so another six times. Home runs were a bit of an issue for him in July, as he surrendered four long balls. He never allowed more than one in an outing, though.
His best performance of the month happened in Pittsburgh on July 18. After Taijuan Walker was knocked from the game after just 1/3 of an inning, Smith entered to pitch 2 2/3 scoreless frames, allowing just one hit in his time on the mound. This ended up being a much-needed spontaneous relief outing for Smith as the Mets needed to keep as many runs off the board as they could in this one; New York eventually prevailed in dramatic fashion, 7-6.
Even though Smith didn’t have a bad month by any means, the Mets managed to go just 2-8 in his July appearances.
In the hurler’s final month of 2021, he tossed six innings in August, allowing just one unearned run across six games, allowing four hits, two walks, and striking out seven batters. His season ended prematurely after he landed on the injured list with a shoulder injury, similar to the discomfort he experienced in April. Injury aside, the way Smith pitched in his final handful of games this season was a fantastic way to close out an overall successful 2021 for him.
2022 Outlook
Smith is arbitration-eligible this winter and MLB Trade Rumors projects him a $900K salary for him in 2022. It would be a slight increase for the first-time arbitration-eligible pitcher, who projects to slot into a similar multi-inning relief role for the Mets next year. A full season from Smith would give the Mets a very underrated reliever in a bullpen that is in need of much improvement for the 2022 campaign. Adding a healthy Smith back into the mix would be a start at putting together a more consistent ‘pen.
