After spending years preparing the mound within the Giants organization as par
t of the team's Augusta grounds crew, right-hander Jake Smith can now say he's
a big league pitcher.
Smith made his Major League debut during the Padres' 7-2 loss to the Red Sox W
ednesday night, where Hanley Ramirez welcomed him to the league with a solo ho
me run on the first pitch the 26-year-old threw.
"It's a rude greeting to your Major League career by Hanley Ramirez," said Pad
res manager Andy Green, although the skipper was impressed with Smith all the
same. "He threw the ball well. … He attacked. He was in the zone. I think tha
t's what you want out of a young guy who jumps up from Double-A for his first
big league start."
Smith threw 14 pitches in his one inning, and surrendered one additional hit t
hat should have been caught in left-center field, before inducing a double pla
y and flyout to end the eighth.
"[He] settled in nicely after the home run," Green said. "Sometimes you don't
know how a guy's going to respond the first time on a Major League field. Give
up a home run on your very first pitch, he was right back in the strike zone.
Those are good things to see."
The Padres claimed Smith from the Giants off of waivers on July 6, and called
him up him prior to Wednesday's finale vs. the Red Sox.
"It's actually a fairly amazing story," said Green. "He was on the grounds cre
w in Augusta, working on the mound, and the pitching coach there challenged hi
m to throw a bullpen. He threw a bullpen for them, and they eventually drafted
him because of what they saw there. It's been a crazy road for him to get her
e."
This season, Smith has been focusing on getting healthy, after dealing with a
few minor shoulder issues that set him back a bit. He threw 27 innings in Doub
le-A and rookie ball this season between the San Diego and San Francisco organ
izations, posting a 5.67 ERA.
However in his last six games with Double-A San Antonio, his ERA was a sparkli
ng 1.59.
"I had been building, building, building and then I got hurt and it kind of to
ok away a lot of what I had done," Smith said. "So it was just trying to get m
e back healthy and then trying to build off of what I had done."
Green said that last year Smith was up to 95-96 mph at times with his fastball
, while that's down to 92-95 mph for the most part this season.
Smith said that San Antonio manager Phillip Wellman called him with the news o
f his promotion just an hour after he got back home to Augusta Tuesday.
"He was telling me that I was going to the big leagues and that I needed to be
in San Diego," Smith said. "They were asking if I could fly out last night an
d I was like, 'I gotta wash some clothes.'"
With his clothes washed and his days as a member of the Augusta grounds crew i
n the rearview mirror, Smith has now thrown in a Major League game, something
that might have not seemed probable or even possible, after being taken in the
48th round five years ago.
"It means the world," he said. "It's like a dream come true for me, just being
able to step foot in the clubhouse."
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从整丘的巨人队1A工作人员
摇身一变成为大联盟赛场上的教士队投手
也堪称传奇了 他还年轻 潜力或许无可限量喔
加油啦 史密斯