By Mason Feole
After being released by the Padres in the early offseason, Adam Smith found that changes he was making in order to come back better in ‘24 quickly turned into changes he needed to make in order to find himself back in the MiLB. In order for him to be signed again, he needed to prove that he was a different pitcher than he was in ‘24.
Adam came to me in the beginning of the offseason looking to establish a plan that he could put in place to turn the tides of his career. In ‘23, he struggled to find the zone and put away hitters. He knew there were changes to be made, but he needed direction for how to make them.
We started from the ground up. The main goal was to enhance the throw; not only consistently getting him above his previous years velocity average, but also finding a way for him to be in-zone more frequently. He was beaten last year because he struggled to do just that, so the plan began by remapping his daily work and what the throw looked like from a movement perspective.
Once Adam started to show more effective velocity based on throwing changes, mobility improvements and changing how he was approaching things in the weightroom– we moved to figuring out the necessary adjustments that were possible for him to make from an arsenal standpoint based on his new throw.
He had to buy into the idea that these progressive changes would only better him. Spoiler alert: they have. Adam did this through movement changes and a new approach to pre-work and daily routines. He cleaned up his arm path/upper half and learned how to stop more effectively while adjusting the direction of his rotation.
He is also healthy again. After dealing with a few minor injuries throughout his first 2 seasons, Adam has been able to take the time to adjust his workload and programming in order to solidify a system that allows him to recover more effectively. After a largely successful college career, he wasn’t truly able to capture the momentum he had after being drafted out of UNC Wilmington.
Over the course of the offseason, Adam lowered his release and added a sinker. Along with this, he raised his average fastball velocity above 94.5mph and showed consistent ability to touch 96mph. He completely changed his arsenal to show grades that would be considered top tier in the bigs.
You can now pencil him down for 94-96mph from this new lower slot. After a few constraint changes and adjustments to how Adam was rotating, he was able to create more energy behind the lead leg and harness a far more efficient COM transfer.
Adam showed velocity last year up to 96mph, averaging around or just below 93mph in games. However, he struggled last year to establish true fastball metrics. As a byproduct, he yielded poor results with the pitch(es).
Lowering his Release Height was an opportunity to capture a better four-seam fastball that would complement his ability to show other offerings. Now consistent in carrying his heater above 15”IVB from an adjusted release height, he will be able to produce more whiff% throughout the entire zone.
To play off of this, he focused away from throwing 5-6 pitches to the results of zoning in on creating 3-5 true offerings.
From the beginning of the offseason, Adam worked on cleaning up his ability to rotate. Earlier in the offseason, and during last year, he had a tendency to try to create more velocity from a more elbow extension driven move. The goal was to have Adam allow the throw to be driven from the shoulder moving more properly, rather than forcing the elbow forward.
Through his pulldowns, it was clear that his intent and effort levels were not matching the outputs. Adam spent plenty of time playing catch in more athletic situations. He pretended to be a shortstop, throwing from different angles. This variation in catch play helped in lowering his release. This should also aid in his command, as he threw in challenging positions unlike that of the game mound. Adam is now able to throw two fastballs (4S and SK) that have a set profile, and he now possesses an understanding of the real shape.
The thought process was simple; keep everything in the center and replace the shoulders. This led to a better ability for Adam to create a block that acted as the driver for him to crash and slingshot the upper half forward into rotation.
It’s clear that the gripe from last season was execution and a lack of ability to command all of his offerings throughout the zone.
However, the changes made this year show promise that he will be able to do both at an elite level. He understands true defined shapes now with his pitches. This has led and will continue to lead to better outcomes from a CSW% perspective, and from an ability to understand how to get into the zone.
Between the change in his release, creating a more efficient rotational system and control of his rib cage, he can better direct energy through the zone. This has led to and will lead to largely improved command.
He ditched 2 poor variations of a breaking ball for a 1 elite sweeper. He improved his ability to be in-zone.
He is now showing the ability to consistently throw a new and improved sweeper. Averaging -19.9” HB, -6.4 IVB. Consistently running it above 20in of break and keeping it over 80. The pitch shows a new ability to be used in all counts and profiles similar to Joe Ryan, Bryce Miller or Christian Javier.
Why is this important? Sweepers that profile similarly last year in the MLB produced a 27% hard-hit rate, with a 33% swing-and-miss percentage. They also resulted in BABIP 20 points lower than others. This pitch produced weak/poor contact to both handed hitters. Add the carry quality that Adam’s holds, and it becomes a bit of a unicorn pitch.
Arguably his best addition of the offseason was his new and improved changeup. Adding a change in the mid 80mph range created depth (-0.1IVB, holding over 20in of HB break at times). As crazy as this sounds, last year only Devin Williams threw a changeup that held more than 20” of HB while being below 0” IVB over 85mph.
Now, the final step came in forcing a team's hand for him to sign. In order to do this, we compiled an email containing all of the information a team would need to want him. It contained data from his Trackman reports, video, information about the improvements he made, and graded Stuff+ scores.
This email was sent to all 30 clubs.
The Red Sox replied, and 2 days later Adam was a member of the Red Sox.
I couldn’t be more excited for him signing with the Boston Red Sox. Even better, we will see him in person for the first time here in Greenville, SC as he reported right here and we are already in town to see Pirates LHP CY Nielson.
It was only a matter of time before someone noticed just how good Adam is, and the potential that he holds. There was truly no reason Adam shouldn’t have gotten a second chance at affiliate ball.