Ex-Hog Smyly DFA’d
ARLINGTON, Texas — Drew Smyly struck out the last batter he faced for the Texas Rangers. That came right after the veteran left-hander, who already had lost his spot in the starting rotation, allowed three consecutive home runs in a fivepitch span.
Smyly (Little Rock Central, Arkansas Razorbacks) was designated for assignment by the Rangers on Thursday, two days after his last appearance.
After not pitching in the majors the past two seasons because of Tommy John surgery, Smyly, 30, was 1-5 with an 8.42 ERA in 13 games (9 starts) with the Rangers.
“He’s coming off injury, and I don’t think the expectations were overly high, but I think it honestly didn’t work out,” Manager Chris Woodward said. “He was fighting to figure things out. I think it’s just best for him, and honestly best for us, to just have him move on.”
The Rangers made the move before their series finale against Cleveland, when they also optioned left-hander Joe Palumbo to Class AAA Nashville after he was the loser Wednesday night. Texas brought up a pair of lefties, Kyle Bird and Locke St. John, for St. John’s possible big league debut.
Smyly allowed 19 home runs in 51 1 / innings. 3 In his last appearance Tuesday, in a 10-3 loss to the Indians, he took over in the fourth and needed 32 pitches to get through the inning. He was gone in the seventh after the first three Cleveland batters went deep before he struck out Mike Freeman.
Smyly is 32-32 with a 4.13 ERA in 169 major league games (94 starts) for the Detroit Tigers (2012-14), Tampa Bay (2014-16) and Texas. The Rays traded him to Seattle before the 2017 season, and he had Tommy John surgery that summer.