Evaluating Smoltz’s debut

Zach Hayes is traveling today, and asked me to fill-in, so I thought I’d share my thoughts on John Smoltz’s debut and start a discussion about it. Here goes…
Smoltz took the mound at Nationals Park with the Red Sox looking to secure a sweep in the Nation’s Capital. He was tasked with neutralizing an underrated Washington offense, which ranked ninth in the majors with a .343 team OBP coming in, and with besting opposing starter Jordan Zimmermann, a promising rookie who had logged a 2.16 ERA and 1.02 WHIP over his previous three starts.
On the surface, Smoltz appeared to do neither, taking the loss in a 9-3 defeat. But if you dig deeper, consider that Smoltz hadn’t started a big league game since April 27th of last year, and offer the 42 year-old some sympathy in light of the inherent jitters involved in putting on a new uniform for the first time in two decades, his first start as a member of the Red Sox really doesn’t look so bad.
Sure, Smoltz didn’t exactly make a good first impression. In fact, if you go by the righty’s 34-pitch opening inning, you’d probably recommend that he join former teammate Greg Maddux in retirement. But Smoltz’s struggles in the first frame can be attributed to rust, making them unsurprising–and perhaps even understandable.
Smoltz retired Cristian Guzman, the first batter he faced, by making the .337 hitter roll over on a 2-2 changeup. Then, the trouble began.
He plunked Nick Johnson with an errant slider, served up a meaty first-pitch fastball that Ryan Zimmerman turned on for a double, and walked Adam Dunn due to a lack of changeup command. With the bases loaded, Smoltz hung a pair of sliders to Josh Willingham and Josh Bard, who singled home a run each. After retiring Willie Harris on a line-out to right, Smoltz left a fastball up to Anderson Hernandez, resulting in a two-run single.
Forget that Smoltz recorded his first strikeout in a Boston uniform at the expense of opposing starter Jordan Zimmermann; he allowed the Nationals to bat around and score four times, while displaying uncharacteristically poor control and an inability to get the ball down.
And yet, there was reason to remain optimistic. For one, consider that Smoltz was routinely pumping his fastball up to 93. For another, notice that although he was having trouble placing his slider and changeup where he wanted them, both pitches still had the sharp, deceptive bite they did in his prime.
When a pitcher has had a long hiatus, command is the last thing to come back to him, and that Smoltz had the rest of his game in order was certainly a good sign.
Pardon the cliché, but the faithful were at least partially rewarded.
After that calamity of a first inning, Smoltz tossed four innings of one-run ball. Over that span, he limited the Nationals to three hits, fanned five, and did not walk a batter.
Though he allowed the Nats to plate their fifth run in the third via a Josh Willingham double and Josh Bard single, Smoltz appeared to suddenly discover the fountain of youth with one out in the inning. With runners at the corners following a fielding error by Big Papi, Smoltz induced a grounder to second to get the lead-runner at home, and a flyout to center to end the inning.
From that Anderson Hernandez at-bat with one out in the third, through Josh Bard’s unsuccessful trip to the plate which ended the fifth, Smoltz was flawless, retiring eight consecutive Nationals batters.
The veteran featured the same low-90s velocity and late tailing action on his fastball, but the difference was that he was finally rediscovering his once impeccable command of the slider and changeup.
Smoltz capped that 2.2 inning streak of perfection by striking out the side in the fifth inning.
Adam Dunn was the first victim, and the slide-piece was his demise. Smoltz started the at-bat by planting a backdoor beauty for strike one. After running the count to 2-1, the veteran went back to his bread and butter, throwing three consecutive sliders, and eventually earning the punch-out on a pitch in the dirt.
Josh Willingham was next in the firing line, and he saw the full arsenal. Smoltz sailed a slider outside to start the at-bat, but placed one perfectly on the inside edge for strike one. Willingham then chased a filthy changeup that dropped to his ankles, before staring at a heater that caught the inside corner and sent him back to the dugout.
Then it was Josh Bard’s turn, and after collecting RBI singles in his first two at-bats, he saw just three pitches before being retired in his third. A rare curveball on the outside corner for strike one. A backdoor slider that he fouled off for strike two. And a nasty changeup that fooled him badly for strike three.
Those three straight strikeouts–which took a combined 13 pitches–looked like the stuff of vintage John Smoltz. Pinpoint command, sharp break, and four different pitches working together to dominate the opposition.
He didn’t have any of those things at the start of the game, but it seems quite plausible that he was simply rusty, or maybe even a tad nervous.
Smoltz finished the outing with 92 total pitches, 62 of which went for strikes. He had no issues with fatigue, and improved as the game went along. If you’re willing to forgive and forget that disastrous first inning, his four inning, three hit, one run, zero walk, five strikeout performance on 58 pitches thereafter is actually quite impressive.
“All in all, most times if the line score is the way it is tonight, I’m going to be very disappointed, but I really can’t be at this point,” said Smoltz after the game. “A lot of hard work went into this. Although I’d like that mulligan in the first inning, that’s just the way it happens. Now everything will be normal for me.”
If “normal” is what we saw over the last four innings of his debut, he’s going to be just fine.
If not, we still have Clay Buchholz waiting in the wings.
What do y’all think?