Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
The Padres were as-advertised. The Giants had not seen them since July, had not seen them post-trade deadline, only watched from afar as they rose in the West as the only club that was not letting the Dodgers run away with the division.
“They’re a really good team,” Drew Smyly said. “They’ve got great pitching, they’ve got great hitters and play good defense, so they’re tough.”
Smyly, though, was better than advertised.
A pitcher who had not thrown in a major league game in nearly six weeks because of a strained finger looked more rested than rusty. The 31-year-old, another year removed from 2017 Tommy John surgery, had been throwing harder than he ever has before his left index finger gave out Aug. 1.
In his return, he upped velocity that was up.
What had been a 93.4-mph average fastball in his first three outings was an average 94.6-mph fastball Thursday, hitting 95.6 on the radar gun. His slowest was 91.4 mph; in 2016 with Tampa, his average was 90.2 mph. And it wasn’t just heat that he had going, his breaking pitches as good as they’ve been all year. The excellent San Diego lineup swung at six of his curveballs and missed five times. They took hacks at five cutters and whiffed three times, including a strikeout of Fernando Tatis Jr. that made the likely NL MVP look like a rookie. (Instead of the second-year player he is.)
Smyly, after his 59-pitch outing, attributed it to the adrenaline from being on the mound again rather than a rested arm or a shorter stint.
“Before I got hurt this year, I felt like I was throwing a lot harder than I usually did, and my arm felt really strong. And I was really excited where I was at,” Smyly said over Zoom after the Giants’ 6-1 loss at Petco Park that snapped their five-game win streak. “I’m glad that I was able to transition through that month that I just missed, but I’ve been feeling really good this whole year, minus this little finger injury. Hopefully I can just pick right back up where I left off and help this team down the stretch.”
But how? He looked dominant in a medium-burst situation, going four innings while striking out eight, his only big mistake a home run to Jorge Ona. Gabe Kapler could sprinkle in the lefty in choice spots. He also could let Smyly stretch his way back to a rotation that right now includes Trevor Cahill, who either has had hip concerns or sharpness concerns for three straight starts after taking the loss Thursday.
It sounds as if Kapler still values Smyly most out of the rotation, but watching him dominate in a different role was eye-opening.
“It’s enticing to use him as that type of [bullpen] weapon,” Kapler said after his team dropped to 23-22 and still in control of a playoff spot. “But I think it also makes a lot of sense to consider him as a starter in some pretty important games down the stretch.”
The rotation stabilized without him, Tyler Anderson filling in nicely and Cahill solid before his recent struggles. Jeff Samardzija is still working his way back toward an uncertain role. The Giants will have decisions to make, but the Smyly question will be a nice one to answer.