One pitch of his runs sideways more than almost anyone's
Smith's changeup moves 95.4 inches toward the first-base side, the biggest horizontal move in his arsenal.
204 thrown, averaging 86.3 mph.
He fills the strike zone and makes hitters beat him
Smith lives in the strike zone: 49.6% of his pitches are in it, 90th percentile.
1166 pitches in 2021. 90th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2021, 83rd in MLB.
There is one pitch of his that keeps getting hit
Contact off Smith's cutter leaves the bat at 90.6 mph, against 85.3 off his changeup.
107 and 204 of them thrown.
One pitch of his moves in a way hitters rarely see
Smith's 4-seam fastball carries 15.4 inches of ride against a spinless ball, the biggest vertical move in his arsenal.
44 thrown, averaging 93.2 mph.
How much of the zone he uses depends on the count
Smith puts 63.4% of his pitches in the zone when he is behind and 42.2% when he is ahead.
279 located pitches behind, 358 ahead.
His pitches move in ways that fit together
Smith works with 5 pitches: Sinker, Changeup, Curveball and Cutter, and a little else. The sinker is 53.3% of everything he throws.
1166 classified pitches in 2021.
The gap between his pitches is what makes them work
13.9 mph separates Smith's 4-seam fastball from his curveball, 93.2 against 79.3.
44 and 117 of them respectively.
He works one part of the zone far more than the rest
Smith lives at the bottom of the zone: his average pitch crosses at 2.28 feet, against a zone that runs 1.5 to 3.5.
1166 located pitches in 2021.
He gets ahead early and pitches from in front all night
Smith throws a strike on the first pitch 65.3% of the time.
300 plate appearances started in 2021.
He pitches differently depending on which hand is up
Smith puts 51.3% of his pitches to right-handers in the zone and 47.7% of his pitches to left-handers.
608 pitches to right-handed hitters, 558 to left-handed hitters.
He saves one pitch for one side of the plate
Smith throws the changeup 28.3% of the time against left-handers and 7.6% against right-handers.
608 pitches to right-handers, 558 to left-handers.
When he falls behind, hitters know exactly what is coming
Behind in the count Smith throws a fastball 71% of the time, against 59.5% when he is ahead.
279 pitches behind in the count, 358 ahead.
The angle he throws from is unusual, and hitters notice
Smith releases the ball from a low three-quarters slot, about 43 degrees above horizontal and 1.4 feet to the third-base side of the rubber.
1166 tracked release points, averaging 5.6 feet off the ground.
He pitches around the zone once runners are on
Smith throws 47.1% of his pitches in the zone with a runner in scoring position and 50.6% with the bases empty.
350 pitches with a runner in scoring position, 816 with the bases empty.
He throws strikes to one type of hitter and not the other
Smith lands 52.7% of his fastballs in the zone and only 42.1% of his breaking balls.
772 of his fastballs, 190 of his breaking balls.
This is the pitch he goes to when he needs the out
With two strikes Smith goes to the slider: 9.3% of his two-strike pitches, against 4.6% the rest of the time.
356 two-strike pitches in 2021.
Too much of the contact against him is loud
41.2% of the contact Smith gives up is hit hard, 35th percentile.
1166 pitches in 2021. 35th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2021, 520th in MLB.
One type of hitter does all the damage against him
Hitters do their damage on his fastballs: a .338 expected average against them, against .311 on his breaking balls.
772 of his fastballs thrown.
His fastball is the pitch everything else is built on
Smith's sinker averages 92.9 mph, and has touched 96.7.
621 thrown, 53.3% of his pitches.
One pitch of his spins more than almost anyone's
Smith's curveball spins at 2,363 rpm, the highest in his arsenal.
117 thrown in 2021.
One pitch exists only to make the hitter think
Smith has thrown 44 4-seam fastballs this season, 3.8% of his pitches, at 93.2 mph: a look rather than a weapon.
1166 classified pitches in 2021.
Show more
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
One pitch of his runs sideways more than almost anyone's
Smith's changeup moves 95.4 inches toward the first-base side, the biggest horizontal move in his arsenal.
204 thrown, averaging 86.3 mph.
One pitch of his moves in a way hitters rarely see
Smith's 4-seam fastball carries 15.4 inches of ride against a spinless ball, the biggest vertical move in his arsenal.
44 thrown, averaging 93.2 mph.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He fills the strike zone and makes hitters beat him
Smith lives in the strike zone: 49.6% of his pitches are in it, 90th percentile.
1166 pitches in 2021. 90th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2021, 83rd in MLB.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
There is one pitch of his that keeps getting hit
Contact off Smith's cutter leaves the bat at 90.6 mph, against 85.3 off his changeup.
107 and 204 of them thrown.
His pitches move in ways that fit together
Smith works with 5 pitches: Sinker, Changeup, Curveball and Cutter, and a little else. The sinker is 53.3% of everything he throws.
1166 classified pitches in 2021.
The gap between his pitches is what makes them work
13.9 mph separates Smith's 4-seam fastball from his curveball, 93.2 against 79.3.
44 and 117 of them respectively.
He saves one pitch for one side of the plate
Smith throws the changeup 28.3% of the time against left-handers and 7.6% against right-handers.
608 pitches to right-handers, 558 to left-handers.
His fastball is the pitch everything else is built on
Smith's sinker averages 92.9 mph, and has touched 96.7.
621 thrown, 53.3% of his pitches.
One pitch of his spins more than almost anyone's
Smith's curveball spins at 2,363 rpm, the highest in his arsenal.
117 thrown in 2021.
One pitch exists only to make the hitter think
Smith has thrown 44 4-seam fastballs this season, 3.8% of his pitches, at 93.2 mph: a look rather than a weapon.
1166 classified pitches in 2021.
Show more
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
How much of the zone he uses depends on the count
Smith puts 63.4% of his pitches in the zone when he is behind and 42.2% when he is ahead.
279 located pitches behind, 358 ahead.
He gets ahead early and pitches from in front all night
Smith throws a strike on the first pitch 65.3% of the time.
300 plate appearances started in 2021.
When he falls behind, hitters know exactly what is coming
Behind in the count Smith throws a fastball 71% of the time, against 59.5% when he is ahead.
279 pitches behind in the count, 358 ahead.
This is the pitch he goes to when he needs the out
With two strikes Smith goes to the slider: 9.3% of his two-strike pitches, against 4.6% the rest of the time.
356 two-strike pitches in 2021.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He works one part of the zone far more than the rest
Smith lives at the bottom of the zone: his average pitch crosses at 2.28 feet, against a zone that runs 1.5 to 3.5.
1166 located pitches in 2021.
The numbers behind these live in Matchups.
Take me there
He pitches differently depending on which hand is up
Smith puts 51.3% of his pitches to right-handers in the zone and 47.7% of his pitches to left-handers.
608 pitches to right-handed hitters, 558 to left-handed hitters.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
The angle he throws from is unusual, and hitters notice
Smith releases the ball from a low three-quarters slot, about 43 degrees above horizontal and 1.4 feet to the third-base side of the rubber.
1166 tracked release points, averaging 5.6 feet off the ground.
The numbers behind these live in Matchups.
Take me there
He pitches around the zone once runners are on
Smith throws 47.1% of his pitches in the zone with a runner in scoring position and 50.6% with the bases empty.
350 pitches with a runner in scoring position, 816 with the bases empty.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He throws strikes to one type of hitter and not the other
Smith lands 52.7% of his fastballs in the zone and only 42.1% of his breaking balls.
772 of his fastballs, 190 of his breaking balls.
One type of hitter does all the damage against him
Hitters do their damage on his fastballs: a .338 expected average against them, against .311 on his breaking balls.
772 of his fastballs thrown.
The numbers behind these live in Spray Chart.
Take me there
Too much of the contact against him is loud
41.2% of the contact Smith gives up is hit hard, 35th percentile.
1166 pitches in 2021. 35th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2021, 520th in MLB.
Diamondbacks
Career team 2020–2021