SAN FRANCISCO–It was impossible to miss Mark Melancon’s saga play out.
The Giants signed one of the most successful closers in baseball last offseason to the third-richest contract for a reliever in Major League history, and over the course of the year, Melancon’s arm troubles dominated the news cycle.
A blown save on Opening Day put the wheels in motion, and two separate disabled list stints that failed to cure his ailing pronator strain ultimately led to Melancon parking himself in a doctor’s office last week, when he finally underwent pronator release surgery.
Due to his massive contract and the manner in which his injury played out, Melancon’s pronator injury is perceived as the root cause for the Giants’ continued bullpen struggles. And now that the club feels confident its closer will be prepared for Spring Training next season, San Francisco has begun the process of evaluating what its late-inning situation will look like come 2018.
The Giants expect to have options with a healthy Melancon, a potentially dominant Sam Dyson and set-up candidates Hunter Strickland, Kyle Crick and Cory Gearrin all under contract. But to form a complete, rounded unit, San Francisco will need more productivity out of its left-handed relievers.
Enter the forgotten man.
Because he sustained an elbow injury in March that forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery at the end of Spring Training, 28-year-old lefty Will Smith was off the radar for much of the season. Smith was in the clubhouse at AT&T Park on a daily basis, but because he never pitched for the Giants this season, it was easy overlook what the club was missing.
“I said this, when we lost Will Smith in Spring Training, that was a serious blow for us,” Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy said. “To lose a key setup guy, on top of that, we ended up losing our closer, but Will was a huge part of this bullpen. That’s why we acquired him and that was hard to overcome. We’ve had our ups and downs on the left-handed side but I think he’s going to help stabilize this pen when we get him back.”
Indeed, Smith’s injury took a significant toll on the Giants’ bullpen, one that the club never truly recovered from. At various points during the season, Bochy asked Josh Osich, Steven Okert and even Ty Blach to serve as his late-inning left-handed bridge to the ninth inning, and no member of the trio lived up the role the Giants anticipated Smith to fill.
While Blach was forced into the starting rotation, neither Osich or Okert provided Bochy with the reliability Smith has offered various managers over his six-year Major League career. Though Blach has now transitioned back to a bullpen role and Okert is pitching with renewed effectiveness after a six week stint with AAA Sacramento, it’s Smith who the Giants will count on to pitch in the same capacity Javier Lopez did for seven seasons come 2018.
“It’s exciting,” Melancon said. “Having Will (Smith) back will be huge. Another lefty, a solid lefty. I know he’s motivated and been watching us all year, it’s kind of frustrating. So he’s motivated to get back and you can see it in his eyes and just the way he talks. It’s going to be fun to have him back.”
On Sunday, Smith played catch for the first time since his surgery. While he’s a long ways off from actually pitching again, Smith said he’ll follow a rehab program that slowly builds up his arm strength again.
“We’re playing catch three times a week right now, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,” Smith said. “This week was just a little different with all of the off days. The first day went great, arm felt good, nothing hurt, it’s exciting to be able to throw a baseball again. Yesterday the same thing, we backed it up a little further with a few more throws so it’s slowly and steady going up and everything feels good so far.”
Smith said he’s throwing at 40 feet right now, and that over time, he’ll back it up to the point where he’s able to throw a bullpen. Though he’s holding out hope that he’ll be able to break camp with the Giants at the end of March, Smith said the original goal following his surgery was for him to be available by the start of May.
“Whether I break with Spring Training, or I might have to do a rehab assignment at the beginning of the year, but we haven’t gotten that far yet because we haven’t even thrown bullpens,” Smith said. “But I remember in Spring Training, when I first had the surgery, we’ll shoot for May 1. That’s a 12-month program, all that stuff. So maybe May, some guys come back quicker, some guys come back a little bit longer. Everybody heals different so you just never know.”
On Wednesday, Smith said he’s on schedule with his rehab process and he hasn’t experienced any setbacks, so he remains optimistic about being able to contribute early next season. He also said with the expectation that he and Melancon will be healthy enough to man their late-inning roles, the bullpen could become a team strength.
“Hopefully help,” Smith said. “That’s what we’re here for. We’re here to win games and to try to win a ring so hopefully getting me and him back healthy with the guys that we have, some of the young guys that have come up this year and shown what they can do, hopefully the bullpen can be a strong point for our team next year.”
With the backdrop of a losing season and an injury robbing him of his ability to help the Giants’ cause, Smith has maintained a remarkably positive outlook and demeanor in the clubhouse throughout the season. While it’s certainly been a challenge to watch the year unfold, Smith said his teammates have kept his spirits up during a trying time.
“Patience,” Smith said. “For real, it’s awful sitting here just watching, knowing you’re not playing and there’s nothing you can do to help. It’s just, it sucks not playing. But it had to happen, it’s something a lot of guys have gone through so that’s been nice having the guys around me and being able to bounce questions off of or just ask them, ‘Hey what did you do during Tommy John’ or ‘What do you do’ so it’s been nice just being around them.”