Of all of the Texas Rangers free agent signings, this one may be the most important
Over the past two seasons, the Texas Rangers have signed big-name free agents Marcus Semien, Jacob deGrom and Corey Seager. Yet, the signing of veteran relief pitcher Will Smith to a one-year contract this past offseason has proven to be one of the Rangers’ best acquisitions.
An 11-year veteran, Smith is putting together one of the best seasons of his career and is a reason the Rangers lead the American League’s West Division with one of the league’s best records.
Smith sports a record of 1-4 with a 3.27 ERA and a team-leading 22 saves in 25 opportunities. Smith’s 22 saves are the third most in his career.
Smith has been consistently successful in a bullpen that has had its ups and downs throughout the season. Recently the bullpen has hit its stride. Over the past 10 games, the Rangers have a 1.71 bullpen ERA which leads the majors.
Rangers bullpen coach Brett Hayes said Smith’s on-the-field performance wasn’t surprising, but Smith’s work as a leader has stood out.
“The impact he’s had on the field speaks for itself,” said Hayes, “A big part of his impact has been in that bullpen around those guys setting the tone, a winners mentality, an expectation of what it takes to win. He’s a winner, through and through, obviously, his results on the field show that but what he’s done to bleed that into his teammates shows how much of a winner he is.”
The camaraderie and competitiveness inside the Rangers bullpen have driven the unit to succeed in Smith’s eyes despite the constant pressures of being a relief pitcher.
“A lot of trash talk for sure. You know, it’s, pulling for them when they’re out there for their inning. Obviously, you want them all to put up zeros, but at the same time it’s not going to go our way every time out there, and usually, when it doesn’t go our way, it costs us the game,” Smith said. “So just kind of being able to put your arm around a guy and helping them out and grabbing the iPad and maybe be like, hey, this is the sequence I saw, I saw this, I saw that and just kind of bouncing stuff off each other, not just kind of you know, feel sorry for him, but you gotta help them out.”
This season has been fun for Smith and the Rangers and he credits some of the team’s success to how well the clubhouse gets along.
“Anytime you win it’s fun, CY (Rangers general manager Chris Young), and those guys have put together such a good group of guys,” said Smith, “I think guys just enjoy showing up and working with each other and, you know, hanging out with each other going to dinners and stuff. I think that stuff is important.”
The Texas Rangers are in first place in the AL West with a record of 72-49 and have serious World Series title aspirations. FanDuel sportsbook gives the Rangers the fourth-best odds to win this year’s World Series.
The Rangers have the fifth-best record in the majors and are on pace to end the franchise’s six consecutive losing seasons despite injuries to various key players throughout the season.
Smith has won back-to-back World Series championships with the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros and knows what it takes to win on the biggest stage.
“It’s important to have guys that have been there, done that kind of bounce questions off them,” said Hayes.
Smith sees similar characteristics between this Rangers team and some of his former championship squads.
“I think we have the it factor for sure,” said Smith, “That’s the stuff you can’t practice, you can’t train it’s either a team gets along or they don’t get along and we get along real well and we enjoy watching each other succeed.”
Heading into the weekend series against Milwaukee, the Rangers have a 20-10 record, tied for second-best in the MLB, over the last 30 games, and Smith is relishing being a part of this team.
“Everybody’s pulling for each other and at the same time, you don’t want to be the guy that goes out there and messes it up. So you try even harder, you know, just to not do it for yourself, but to do it for them,” said Smith, “So, yeah, it’s, it’s fun to come to work every day.”
This story was originally published August 17, 2023 at 11:56 AM.
