Smyly Looks to Build on Recent Successes Against Washington Nationals

When starting pitcher Drew Smyly takes the ball Wednesday for the Chicago Cubs against the Washington Nationals, the left-hander will look to build upon the recent success he’s found on the mound.

Pitching now in his first year with the Cubs, the Smyly's overall season numbers have been decent enough to earn a place in the starting rotation as a valued lefty and perhaps, more importantly, a veteran to help shape the impressionable Justin Steele, and Keegan Thompson.

Over 15 starts, the 33-year-old carries a 3.69 ERA, striking out 61 across 70 2/3 innings, but the month of August though has signaled that his best is still yet to come.

In his last two starts, August 6th at home against the Miami Marlins, and August 11th at the Field of Dreams game against the Cincinnati Reds, the journeyman starter has  delivered 11 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. with 13 strikeouts.

Posting consecutive scoreless outings for the first time since his first two starts of the season, April matchups on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies, Smyly’s most recent starts also saw season-highs in vital pitching categories.

Not only was his start against the Marlins his longest of the year, but it was also the most strikes he delivered in an outing, 69. He finished in dominant fashion retiring 11 of the last 12 batters he faced until a two-out 7th inning double by the Marlins' Charles LeBlanc lifted him from the game.

Continuing where he left off at Wrigley, just five days later in the cornfields of Iowa, Smyly posted another solid outing against the Reds on the national stage. Throwing a season-high in strikeouts, nine, for five innings of work, his confidence was on display too. Bending, but not breaking, the pitcher they call “Smiles” evaded trouble including a two-on none out start to the second inning, keeping the Cubs' lead at 3-0 after three consecutive strikeouts.

As the season progresses further and further into the second half, Smyly and Chicago pitching coach Tommy Hottovy look to ride the momentum of a blossoming August into a flowering September. 

Posting his best full-season WHIP since 2016, 1.29,  comparing his pitch usage to his 2021 season with the Atlanta Braves, it’s evident that Smyly has readjusted fastball variation. He utilizes his cutter more, up 14.9% from 2021, and lowering the usage of his sinker, down 15.1%. Especially with the sinker usage, it’s clearly worked to create a curtain of deception for opposing hitters, as the whiff percentage on the pitch has risen 6.8% in 2022.

As expected, Smyly's wipeout curveball remains integral to his mix; he throws the pitch 41.6% of the time.

For Smyly, whose one-year deal has him set to enter free agency at the end of the season, he has clearly proven his value to the Cubs, but also how he could be a vital middle rotation piece for any team in the years to come. 

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