Second Thoughts

Smyly unsure when season will conclude

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Drew Smyly (Little Rock Central, Arkansas Razorbacks) has pitched a career-high 147 innings this season, eclipsing the 99 1/3 he threw in 2012. Playing for two teams this season, Smyly is 9-10 with a 3.31 ERA and 125 strikeouts.
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Drew Smyly (Little Rock Central, Arkansas Razorbacks) has pitched a career-high 147 innings this season, eclipsing the 99 1/3 he threw in 2012. Playing for two teams this season, Smyly is 9-10 with a 3.31 ERA and 125 strikeouts.

Drew Smyly stood in the Tampa Bay Rays clubhouse wondering if the end to his uncommon year was near. The questions directed at him near his locker were familiar. The answer remains unknown.

Smyly could be shut down soon, given that he has pitched a career-high 147 innings this season, eclipsing the 99 1/3 he threw in 2012. He passed the 76 he threw last year long ago, and it's uncertain if his appearance Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field will be his final active moment in 2014.

"There's no timeline," Smyly, 25, said. "It's just one start at a time. We'll talk more [today]. But as of now -- it's just one game at a time."

Smyly, of course, was part of the three-way deal on July 31 that sent former Rays ace David Price to the Detroit Tigers, Smyly's former team. A transition for the Little Rock native and former Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher has gone better than expected, with him producing a 3-1 record with a 1.50 ERA in 5 August starts.

In his most recent appearance, he allowed 2 runs and 3 hits in 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the Boston Red Sox. Overall, he's 9-10 with a 3.31 ERA and 125 strikeouts this season.

"It's just cautionary for the future," Smyly said of the uncertainty concerning what's next. "But if anything, I think it just kind of motivates you more. You want to finish the season on a good note. You know it's near."

Rays Manager Joe Maddon said any move to end Smyly's season early would be with preserving the young pitcher's health in mind. Caution could become the strategy of choice.

"You want to add on [to his innings total]), but you don't want to heap on too much so next year can be impacted negatively," Maddon said. "But you want to add on enough so that you can build on that again next year to the point where this guy becomes that 200-inning-plus kind of a horse that we think he will be."

Johnny Trademark

Johnny Manziel has filed for yet another trademark, this time "Johnny Cleveland."

Wrote Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: "At this rate he may end up the only QB with more trademarks than NFL passing touchdowns."

Classy move

The Cincinnati Bengals made arguably their greatest move of the season this week.

The Bengals re-signed defensive tackle Devon Still to their practice squad last Sunday to help him pay for his 4-year-old daughter's cancer treatments. He was waived by the team last Saturday.

Still's daughter Leah has stage-four pediatric cancer. He missed parts of organized team activities to be with his daughter.

"I completely understand where the Bengals were coming from when they cut me because I couldn't give football 100 percent," Still told ABC News.

But when Still received the call that he had been signed to the practice squad and would receive health insurance as well as a weekly salary of $6,300, he was incredibly grateful.

"They could have washed their hands with me and said they didn't care about what I was going through off the field," Still said. "It's like a blessing in disguise for me."

Sports quiz

Where did Devon Still attend college?

Sports answer

Penn State

Sports on 09/07/2014

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