What Acquiring Dylan Smith Might Mean for Giants Bullpen This Season

Trading for Dylan Smith had nothing to do with the San Francisco Giants trading away outfielder Luis Matos.

That’s the strange part of Monday’s transaction haul. The Giants did need to do something with Matos or risk losing him for nothing. But the easy thing to do would have been to flip Matos to Detroit for Smith, who was in the same position.

Instead, there were two distinct trades. The Brewers gave up cash to get Matos. The Giants gave up cash to get Smith. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the money line up on the penny.

So why Smith, especially since the Giants optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento right away? Time to dig in.

Dylan Smith’s History

Detroit Tigers pitcher Dylan Smith prepares to throw a baseball during a drill — Detroit Tigers pitcher Dylan Smith. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Smith, a right-hander, made his MLB debut last season with Detroit. He only pitched in seven games, so there isn’t much MLB Statcast data to look at. While he has four pitches, last season he relied on two — his four-seam fastball 50% of the time and his sweeper 34% of the time. He threw in a split-finger fastball and a sinker a combined 16% of the time.

He carried good velocity on his four-seamer at an average of 94.7 mph. He had a deceptive sinker that averaged 93.9 mph. His sweeper averaged 85.7 mph and his split-finger averaged 86.1 mph. There’s a good mix of velocity and a near-10 mph difference in his primary pitches.

While none of his Statcast data qualified for leaders, it did play well in key areas last season. That included a .215 xBA, an average exit velocity of 86.5 mph, a hard-hit rate of 33.3% and a ground ball rate of 52.8%. In his limited MLB experience, he gave up weaker than normal contact and more than half of the contact he allowed was on the ground. That was a good fit for Comerica Park, and it should be a good fit for Oracle Park.

Naturally, that led to good standard baseball numbers. He went 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA as he struck out four and walked five in 13 innings. Batters also hit just .150 against him. He averaged nearly two innings per appearance, so he’ll be seen as a multi-inning arm in an era where every team needs at least two.

That makes sense. When he began his minor league career, he was a starting pitcher. He only moved into a relief role in the Tigers organization last season when it was clear to both Smith and the Tigers that a path to the rotation was going to be a hard one.

After going 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA in 30 minor league appearances last season, along with his limited MLB work, the right-hander now has a path to the Majors as a multi-inning reliever with options, which means the Giants can send him up and down as needed. That will be where he fits in for the short term, as when-needed depth as the bullpen accumulates innings.