Time and again, people mistakenly assert Josh Smoker should be considered as a left-handed reliever out of the bullpen.  The reason for this mistake is the obvious belief that just because Smoker is a left-handed pitcher, he will naturally give left-handed batters fits.  Unfortunately with Smoker, that isn’t the case whatsoever.

During his brief stint in the majors last year, left-handed batters hit .366/.448/.600 off of him in 29 plate appearances.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t entirely the result of a small sample size.  In Triple-A last year, left-handed batters hit .282 off of him.  In 2015, left-handed batters hit .250 off of him in Double-A.  Simply put, Smoker is not your typical lefty out of the pen.

As a result, until Smoker finds another pitch to use to get left-handed batters out, he is going to need to be lifted when a left-handed batter comes to the plate.  That is unless Smoker is able to learn how to utilize his slider against left-handed batters.

The slider is the obvious choice as: (1) Smoker knows how to throw a slider; and (2) Dan Warthen‘s specialty as a pitching coach is teaching the slider.  If Smoker is actually able to master the slider, then he has a real weapon he can use against left-handed batters.  The good news is he obviously has been working on the pitch, and he has had some success with it as Bryce Harper would attest:

At this point, Smoker either does not have the confidence in the pitch, or he does not throw the pitch consistently well.  If he ever does get to that point, and he can combine the slider with his 96 MPH fastball, Smoker could very well be unhittable.  Considering Smoker already dominates right-handed batters and struck out 14.7 batters per nine in the majors (12.8 in Triple A), you have a reliever who is a potential closer.  You certainly have one that is more than capable of handling the sixth inning with Fernando Salas back in the fold.

Overall, should Smoker develop his slider, the Mets bullpen has the possibility of being one of the best in the major leagues.  And with that, quite possibly, much of the success of the bullpen and the Mets 2017 seasons rests with Smoker mastering the slider.  With Warthen as his pitching coach, you have to like the chances of that happening.