With less than two hours until the trade deadline, the Giants acquired left-hander Will Smith to deepen their bullpen. The Giants sent catcher Andrew Susac and top pitching prospect Phil Bickford to the Brewers in return.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports first reported the trade, and Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area first reported the prospects.
Smith joins Javier Lopez and Matt Reynolds as the active lefties in the Giants bullpen, with Josh Osich on the 15-day DL with a strained left forearm. The 27-year-old is under team control through the 2019 season and has been used this season primarily in the seventh and eighth innings.
He boasted a 1.93 ERA as recently as a week ago, but it spiked after allowing four runs in a blown save to the Cubs. Smith’s ERA currently sits at 3.86 through 27 games. An unexpected find was Smith’s splits between right-handed and left-handed hitters.
While his career show fairly even success against right-handed and left-handed hitters, lefties have done very well against Smith this season. Lefties are 12-for-38 (.316) against Smith this season while he’s held right-handed hitters to a .143 average.
The price was steep for the Giants, who had to part with their top pitching prospect in Bickford. General manager Bobby Evans spoke with reporters on Sunday and warned of premium prices across the trade market, especially for relief arms. If nothing else, that much was evident in this deal.
The Giants felt pressured to upgrade a bullpen that leads the National League with 18 blown saves. Lopez has been so good in his six seasons with the Giants, but his performance has declined a bit this season. He’ll also be a free agent at season’s end. Osich hasn’t offered much clarity this season after struggling against righties.
Evans is expected to speak with reporters later today about the deal. KNBR.com will have full updates.
