ORGANIZATION REPORTS National League
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
For righthander Riley Smith, an arm injury from three years ago turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Smith’s velocity dropped after a bout with biceps tendinitis during his junior year at Louisiana State, forcing him to focus more on locating pitches and developing his secondary stuff.
Now that his fastball is back to its previous levels, Smith believes he has been able to marry power stuff with pitchability. It’s hard to argue with the results. Through 13 starts with Double-A Jackson, Smith recorded a 2.27 ERA with 62 strikeouts and 16 walks in 71.1 innings. That earned him a promotion to Triple-A Reno.
“I kind of learned how to use my secondary pitches and how to pitch backward, and as I got my velo back, it helped me a ton,” Smith said. “Now I have three offspeed pitches I use frequently and now my velo is back. It’s starting to click for me.”
Smith, a 24th-round pick in 2016, said he would touch 97 mph in college, but that dipped to 88-92 after his injury.
His velocity remained down even into pro ball. That was partly mental and partly by design, in that he was more interested in locating than overpowering.
He credited Diamondbacks pitching coaches Jeff Bajenaru and Dan Carlson for getting him to use his lower half more and pitch with more “aggression,” he said, which has helped his stuff tick back up. He routinely touches 96 mph and sits at 93.
He said he had trouble last year “(finding) that line between throwing hard and pitching,” but he thinks something clicked in the second half that has carried over.
“If you can throw a fastball that’s above-average, it helps with everything else,” Smith said. “Guys don’t want to miss the heater and it opens the other pitches up to have a better presentation.”
Smith said he’s always had a decent changeup, but he thinks his slider has improved to the point it is sometimes his best secondary offering.
In an organization that has seen its starting pitching depth severely tested this year, Smith has emerged as a dark horse option. If the club continues searching for answers, he might not be too far away from getting the call.
—NICK PIECORO
ATLANTA BRAVES
The Braves swayed from tradition in the draft, taking advantage of a deep pool of college position players rather than dipping into the pool of high school arms.
Fourth-round righthander Kasey Kalich, a reliever from Texas A&M, was the first pitcher they selected. Atlanta chose Baylor catcher Shea Langeliers and Texas A&M shortstop Braden Shewmake with its two first-round picks.
Kalich spent a season at Blinn (Texas) JC before joining the Aggies. Texas A&M moved him to the bullpen, where he swiftly emerged in the Southeastern Conference by striking out 51 in 34 innings.
“The biggest difference was I was able to be more competitive with every pitch I have,” Kalich said. “I had better mechanics to help me do that… It made every pitch have a little better stuff to it.”
The 6-foot-3,
