NEVER HEARD OF MR. SMITH? WHEN HE STARTS FOR THE YANKS, YOU WILL

Meet Caleb Smith, the Yankees' Triple A leader in wins, strikeouts and being upstaged by bigger names.

Photo: MiLB.com / Stephen Pellegrino

He's got the 2nd best WHIP, 3rd best ERA and he's tied for 8th most strikeouts in the entire International League, as a matter of fact. He was good enough to help lead the Yankee's  Double A Trenton Thunder to a run at a championship last season. Good enough to prompt the Cubs to pull a winter bait-and switch with the Brewers when the Yankees left him unprotected just to get a close-up look-see at him in spring training.

Photo: Times Leader

This year his numbers stack up favorably to everyone else -- and I mean everyone -- who's passed through Scranton on their way to the Bronx.  And unlike the rest of them, he hasn't  lost a single game all year.

MLBTradeRumors.com, which produces a weekly report entitled 'Knocking Down The Door'  identifying minor leaguers making strong cases for promotion to their major league clubs, spotlighted five prospects Tuesday that fit that bill. One of them was Smith.

Photo: New York Daily News

"With Chance Adams still waiting for a much-deserved and much-anticipated MLB call-up, Smith’s work in Triple-A has gone relatively unnoticed," MLBTR's Jason Martinez said. "The 25-year-old lefty has made 14 starts in 2017 and has allowed two earned runs or less twelve times, including back-to-back gems (13 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 13 K) to lower his ERA to 2.84 with impressive peripherals across the board (6.5 H/9, 2.3 BB/9, 8.5 K/9)."

“He’s been great,” says Railriders pitching coach Tommy Phelps said. “Shoot, he’s been commanding all his pitches and using them in any count. He’s really been able to keep the hitters between speeds and he’s done a nice job.”

"He’s had games, man, where the punchouts just keep on coming,” said RailRiders catcher Eddy Rodriguez. “And some of the games are not even incredibly great pitches, but there’s some deceptiveness there that guys are really having a hard time picking up.”

"Rodriguez said Smith has the coveted ability to throw all of his pitches out of the same arm slot. Hitters might gear up for a fastball, then swing over the top of a slider. Sit slider, then chase a changeup. “The ideal scenario for a guy is all his pitches come out of the same slot, and the fingers have kind of the same movement,” Rodriguez said. “So, I think that’s where the deception is coming from."

“The changeup is getting there, definitely. It’s definitely getting there,” Smith said. “But slider’s been my go-to for the most part.”

Photo: Presswire

Drafted by the Yankees in the 14th round of  the 2013 draft, the 6' 2" Sam Houston State product was left unprotected after a stellar season in which he helped lead the Thunder on a championship run and the organization had collected so many new hot prospects it couldn't shield them all. So he got snatched in last December's Rule 5 draft by the Brewers who held the seventh overall pick and they immediately flipped him to the Cubs for cash considerations in a routine maneuver familiar to most Hot Stove watchers -- an odd little dance that clubs sometimes do to kick the tires on another club's merchandise.  In Smith's case, it was under the guise of filling out a bulging field of spring training competitors for a potential LOOGY role  with the defending World Champs.

Under Rule 5 guidelines, though, the Cubs couldn't keep him unless they were ready to guarantee him a spot on their  major league roster all season or offer the Yankees an acceptable trade piece in return.  The word out of Cubs camp at the time was they wanted to make an offer for him but the Yankees weren't biting.

So, as frequently happens in Rule 5 dealings, four days before Opening Day they returned him to the Yankees who then promoted him to the RailRiders rotation.  And he hasn't lost since, going 6-0 after 14 starts to date, sporting a nifty .200 BAA and a 0.97 WHIP.

With the Yankees rotation beaten up and requiring reinforcements, every big name major league pitcher on a losing team is being floated as a potential trade target.  I'm not buying it and I don't think Hal and Brian will either. Frankly, I don't believe either of them are ready to part with the prospects they've collected or their dream of getting under the luxury tax threshold.  I think they'll stick with the rebuilding blueprint, and any reinforcements that are forthcoming will be from within -- and they won't want to rush Chance into the fray prematurely (or start his service clock) until there's a bonafide rotation vacancy and not a just a temp job with all the potential controversy and bad press that can bring.

Smith isn't a heralded prospect. He's been under the radar in the system for several years, a late bloomer. He's had experience as both a starter and reliever. If he crashes and burns, nobody will care. If he flies high, he'll be  another system success story fans and media can love with a part to play in the blueprint. If he's somewhere in between, he may be able to help put out some fires in the burning bullpen. 

He may not be the Chance anyone wants the team to take. But he looks like a safer bet to pitch at Yankee Stadium than anyone else I'm hearing rumors about.

--Barry Millman
BYB Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @nyyankeefanfore

CUBA, FIDEL CASTRO, BASEBALL & BYB

Claudia Daut/Reuters

It's another first for Bleeding Yankee Blue. We don't write about politics here. Experts say that politics should not be included in family dinner talks at the table and we couldn't agree more. You guys are our family, but for the first time it has a different meaning and it fits into our world.

While some may say this may be fitting or ironic but on Black Friday Cuban dictator Fidel Castro died at 90 years old. As I sit back on this Thanksgiving holiday weekend I realized that this is HUGE for a lot of people. It doesn't affect me but in our world of baseball it affects many.

Did you know that more than 100 baseball players and managers or personnel defected from Cuba specifically to play this game that we all love simply because it was abolished in Cuba? You can find the list HERE. The list is not all inclusive, it does not include names of people who played outside of Cuba with permission of the Cuban government, so the impact is even more than we can see. All of these people left Cuba to pursue a dream of playing baseball.

The more I think about that idea the more thankful I am for what I have in my life. I can do what I want without seeking permission from the government or leaving my country. As I looked at the list my eye quickly found Eddy Rodriguez. He has been bounced around several minor league teams including the New York Yankees. Rodriguez was born in Cuba and escaped and was rather emotional about the news of Castro's death tweeting #castrogone! You can read more on that HERE.

Former Yankee turned MLB network analyst Mike Lowell also tweeted #freedomforcuba. Lowell was born in Puerto Rico before moving to Miami, Florida but his parents are from Cuba. Even former controversial player Jose Canseco shared his thoughts on twitter stating "Can't say I feel anything for his death. There is a reason many defected to the USA." Canseco was born in Havana in 1964, just five years after Castro came into power. His family left Cuba a year later.

In 2013 Cuba abolished the five decade ban that kept baseball out of their country with contingencies. As it tries to keep her own talent from leaving their country to play in the United States they allow them to sign contracts in other leagues like Mexico and Japan as long as they give a large amount of their salaries back to Cuba and return home to play for their home country in the future.

It is rare to see baseball and politics collide in our world but this is important. It is the history like the players of those mentioned above that show the importance of the freedom of choice and ability to pursue your dreams. It's stories like these that help make this game so great and why all of us should never take anything that we have for granted.

 --Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ


 

 

YANKEES MAKE CUTS

(Photo Credit: Mark Cunningham, Getty)
The Yankees made their announcement.  They made a few more cuts.

According to the Yankees:

"The Yankees have Optioned RHP Chase Whitley to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and reassigned INF Nick Noonan, INF Rob Refsnyder and C Eddy Rodriguez to minor league camp."

Kind of saw that coming. Who didn't?

I hope to see both Whitley and Refsnyder at some point this year.  I have a feeling we will.

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!  Also, don't forget to check out the BYB Hub!

THE YANKEES JUST SIGNED A CATCHER

Quick note and it comes from Baseball America's Matt Eddy and something many could have missed.  The Yanks have signed a catcher. His name is Eddy Rodriguez. He was signed to a minor league deal. Check it, before you wreck it.

Now here is what we know about Eddy Rodriguez. According to H4 Entertainment:

"The 29-year-old Rodriguez has spent the majority of professional career at the minor league level. He did have a brief two game cameo for the San Diego Padres in 2012. During that stint, Rodriguez recorded his one and only major league hit. A home run in his very first at-bat, against Johnny Cueto of all pitchers."

Here's that video:



It should also be noted that the guy is not some kind of big hitter. This just happened to be a special moment.  And so, the Yanks will see what the guy could offer from a minor league level.  No biggie, just a small pickup but worth printing.

Welcome Eddy.


 

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYaneeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!  Also, don't forget to check out the BYB Hub!