Baltimore Orioles: Six Post-Winter Meetings Free Agent Pitching Targets

Drew Smyly makes a lot of sense for the Baltimore Orioles.

Pitching in the major leagues for the first time since 2016, the league saw two different Drew Smyly’s in 2019. First, there was the Drew Smyly of the Texas Rangers who went 1-5 with an 8.42 ERA, 1.91 WHIP, and .296 average against (-0.9 fWAR).

He was cut by the Rangers in late-June, signed with the Milwaukee Brewers and spent about two weeks in Triple-A before being cut again and ultimately landing with the Philadelphia Phillies. It was in Philly where we saw the good Drew Smyly, or at least a better version of the 30-year-old lefty from his short stint in Texas.

With the Phillies, Smyly was 3-2 with a 4.45 ERA, increased his strikeout rate to 26%, lowered his walk rate from 13.6% to 8%, and increased his groundball rate from 27% to a near career-high of 39.2%. Averaging just over five innings per start in his 12 outings with the Phillies, Smyly was worth 0.6 Wins Above Replacement. He did enough to earn another shot in 2020.

Smyly is no stranger to the American League East, having thrown well as a member of Tampa Bay Rays in years past and among the six pitchers on this list, he could have the highest upside in terms of his ability to be flipped at the deadline.