Drew Smith Stats & Scouting Report — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

Track Record: The Mets acquired seven minor league relievers in a series of 2017 trades, and Smith was one of four to reach the big leagues in 2018. He was also the most effective, recording a 3.54 ERA in 27 appearances. The Mets acquired him when they traded Lucas Duda to the Rays near the trade deadline.

Scouting Report: Smith sat 95-97 mph with an average velocity of 96 and peak velocity near 99 in the big leagues. That made him one of the top 40 hardest-throwing major league relievers in 2018. His curveball keeps the same company in terms of spin rate. It's a 78-82 mph breaking pitch with tight, top-to-bottom rotation. But despite impressive raw inputs, Smith needs to tighten command of his primary weapons for them to truly play as plus. He also throws a fringe changeup that surprises batters.

The Future: Smith has the raw weaponry to dominate, but unless he takes another step forward at age 25 in 2019, he probably fits best in a medium-leverage relief role.