Nate Smith was having a better than expected debut at Class AA last year before the left-handed pitcher's first full professional season ended abruptly thanks to a kind gesture.
Smith was 5-3 with a 2.89 ERA in 11 starts with the Arkansas Travelers when he went to help Trevor Gott, who had been acquired in a trade from the San Diego Padres, move into his apartment. Smith dropped a box on his left pinkie while helping with the move and ended up with a broken finger, which was put in a cast for six weeks.
Today’s game
ARKANSAS AT FRISCO
WHEN 7:05 p.m. Central
WHERE Dr Pepper Ballpark, Frisco, Texas
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas
PITCHERS Travelers: Nate Smith (LHP, 5-3, 2.89 ERA); RoughRiders: Alec Asher (RHP, 11-11, 3.80)*
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY at Frisco, 7:05 p.m.
FRIDAY at Frisco, 7:05 p.m.
SATURDAY at Frisco, 7:05 p.m.
SUNDAY at Midland, 4 p.m.
MONDAY at Midland, 6:30 p.m.
TUESDAY at Midland, 6:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY Off
*Last year’s Class AA statistics
Smith could still throw but not in a game because his finger remained in a cast until the day after the Travs' season ended with a loss to the Tulsa Drillers in the Texas League playoffs.
"I was thinking, 'You've got to be kidding me,' " Smith said this week. "I was feeling good, and just the smallest freak accident. A pinkie finger. It wasn't my shining moment."
Smith's finger healed in time for him to pitch in the Arizona Fall League, and he was ready for spring training when he was invited for the first time to big league camp with the Los Angeles Angels.
Now, a year after an accelerated promotion to the Travs, Smith has no problem with being back at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. Smith is the staff ace on a team stocked with highly regarded pitchers. He'll start tonight's season opener against the Frisco RoughRiders in Frisco, Texas, and is considered among the Angels' top 10 prospects.
Even more important, he's ready to put the finishing touches on his start in Class AA after it was cut short last season.
Smith said he doesn't mind repeating a level he appeared to have mastered last year. Instead, the 23-year-old who was drafted in the eighth round in 2013 is glad to be back in familiar surroundings while trying to add a slider to his array of pitches.
"It doesn't really matter where you're at," Smith said. "Whether you're in low A ball or AAA, your one goal is to make it to the big leagues, and as long as you're wearing a jersey you have a chance."
Manager Bill Richardson is glad to have Smith on board. Richardson, in his first season with the Travs, managed Smith in 2013 while managing the rookie league Orem Owlz.
"He is really mature, a true professional," Richardson said. "We joke that when he went to Inland Empire [last year] that we were sending them a left-handed pitching coach. That's just how good he is. He goes about his business the right way."
That makes pitching coach Pat Smith's job easy.
"I'm not going to do anything this year," Pat Smith said. "I'm going to stick my feet up and tell Nate to do everything."
Smith shot through the Angels' system about as quickly as anyone last year. He wasn't included among the Angels' top 30 prospects last year, according to MLB.com. But after going 6-3 with a 3.07 ERA in 10 Class A starts and compiling a 3.27 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched in the Arizona Fall League, MLB.com tabbed Smith the Angels' No. 8 overall prospect before this season.
Smith said he didn't even know of his ranking but was aware of the Angels' heightened interest because of the invitation to big league camp this spring.
"It was literally one of the best times in my life, just being in the locker room with some of those guys," he said. "I didn't get the results I wanted, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I learned a lot."
Sports on 04/09/2015