3:24PM: Smith has a strained lat muscle, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reviews (Twitter link).
2:31PM: Mets right-hander Drew Smith is heading to the 15-day injured checklist as a result of “an unspecified arm difficulty,” in response to The Athletic’s Tim Britton and Ken Rosenthal. The transfer is predicted to be introduced previous to Friday’s recreation, and can seemingly be retroactive to July 25 (Smith final pitched on the twenty fourth).
Since making his MLB debut in 2018, Smith has been a typically strong reliever out of New York’s bullpen, and this season the righty has a 3.51 ERA and a powerful 28.1% strikeout fee over 41 innings. Smith has been permitting a number of arduous contact, nonetheless, and his numbers have taken a downturn over the past month. Smith has a tiny 1.99 ERA by way of his first 29 video games and 31 2/3 appearances, however he has allowed at the least one run in six of his final eight appearances, leading to an 8.68 ERA in that stretch. Residence runs have continued to be an issue for Smith, as he has allowed eight lengthy balls over his 41 IP.
It isn’t but recognized if it is a comparatively minor damage, or one thing that might threaten the rest of Smith’s 2022 season. However even when Smith had been to only miss the 15-day minimal, that received’t cease the Mets from aggressively looking for bullpen assist, as Britton and Rosenthal write that “the Mets try so as to add a number of relievers.”
Bolstered by Edwin Diaz’s spectacular 12 months, New York’s bullpen has good total numbers, with Smith, Adam Ottavino, and Seth Lugo all masking high-leverage innings to get to Diaz within the ninth. The Mets are brief on left-handed relievers specifically, so southpaws (or at the least a righty who’s efficient in opposition to left-handed batters, a la trade target David Robertson) would appear to be on the prime of the Amazins’ want checklist. Some assist may additionally come from inside, as Trevor May is predicted again from the IL subsequent week.
