Coming back from elbow injury, Pirates lefty Caleb Smith working to become a starter again

As soon Caleb Smith got Willy Adames swinging at a slider and squatted on the mound, it was immediately obvious that something was seriously wrong with the left-handed pitcher.

Smith walked off the field with the trainer in the eighth inning of the season finale. Doctors diagnosed a partial tear in the UCL of his throwing arm, an injury that often requires Tommy John surgery. That was something Smith wanted to avoid, so he sought a second opinion.

“Two doctors said I didn’t need surgery, so that’s all I needed to hear,” Smith said. “The way I looked at it was, I can have surgery and miss all of the 2023 season and be ready for 2024 or I can try to pitch. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll still miss 2023 and be ready for the 2024 season.

“Fortunately, I’m healthy and it feels good.”

The Pirates signed Smith, who spent much of the past two seasons pitching out of the bullpen for the Arizona Diamondbacks, to a minor-league deal with the intention of stretching him out to be a starter. That was a motivating factor for Smith.

“I definitely like starting more,” Smith said. “I feel like I tend to get better as the game goes on. The more innings I get under me throughout the season, I feel like I always get stronger.”

Reliever Caleb Smith faces Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen in live batting practice at Pirate City. pic.twitter.com/FLKIHwXxOs

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 22, 2023

The 31-year-old is 16-26 with a 5.00 ERA and 1.33 WHIP and 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 64 starts over his six-year major-league career, with 45 starts coming for the Miami Marlins from 2018-20. He was 10-11 with a 4.52 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 153⅓ innings over 28 starts in 2019, when he averaged 9.9 strikeouts per nine. He suffered injury setbacks in 2018 (left lat surgery) and ’19 (hip), and was part of the return package when the Marlins acquired former Pirates outfielder Starling Marte from Arizona in August 2020.

“We see a guy who knows how to pitch,” Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin said. “He had a little hiccup health-wise towards the end of the year last year. He’s healthy now. It’s just one of those things of, how can we build him up safely to that role that he wants to be in, and that’s stretching him out as a starter right now. But he knows how to pitch, so it’s just getting him to understand where can you get your quick outs and where can you get your swing-and-miss as opposed to being a reliever at times you just have to look for that swing-and-miss.”

Smith delivered on that end, recording five strikeouts against one walk in 5⅓ innings over three Grapefruit League games this spring. But three of the four hits he allowed were home runs, including back-to-back shots by Darick Hall and Scott Kingery in a 10-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on March 10.

For now, Smith continues working to get a feel back for his pitches — he throws a four-seam fastball, slider and changeup — and command the strike zone. Smith called it a day-to-day process to get the feel back.

“One day it will feel good coming out of your hand, and it will be coming out the way you want it to,” Smith said. “The next day, you’ve got to find it again. It’s just an ongoing process that’s always evolving.”

The Pirates reassigned Smith, who is not on their 40-man roster, to their minor-league camp Tuesday. But with 43-year-old Rich Hill the only lefty in the starting rotation, Smith could be a candidate for a call-up.

“I did notice that, that they didn’t have too many lefties,” Smith said. “I saw this being one of the better opportunities for me to get back to the big leagues after my injury at the end of last year.”