Phillies need to slow down in already comparing Drew Smyly to Cliff Lee
By Dan Parzych
One start doesn’t define how things will play out with Drew Smyly and the Philadelphia Phillies.
Last week, the Philadelphia Phillies made a free agency move they could afford to take by signing Drew Smyly, despite how things looked earlier in the year before his release from the Texas Rangers.
When looking at some of the struggles surrounding pitching for the Phillies this season, the addition of Smyly would hopefully provide a much-needed boost to the rotation.
Right away, some Philadelphia fans immediately pointed out that Smyly’s 1-5 record with the Rangers from earlier this year to go along with an 8.42 ERA made it seem like this decision by the organization would end up being a terrible mistake.
On Sunday, Smyly made his debut with the Phillies in a key battle against the Pittsburgh Pirates, which turned out to be way better than anyone expected.
Not only did Smyly last six innings, and only gave up one run, but the veteran also managed to strike out eight batters to help Philadelphia eventually pull off the 2-1 win in a game that lasted 11 innings.
Clearly, the Phillies and their fans had plenty of reasons to be excited over a performance like this from Smyly after looking at some of the previous struggles earlier in the year with the Rangers, but also the team needs to make sure they don’t overexcite themselves too much.
For instance, as much of an honor as it was to hear Gabe Kapler compare Smyly to one of the all-time Philadelphia favorites in Cliff Lee after Sunday’s win, this was only one game for the Phillies.
It would be one thing if Smyly had already pitched numerous games for his new team that resulted in wins from looking sharp each time, but until he proves to be consistent, any sort of comparison to Lee seems unnecessary right now.
Even if things got off to an amazing start with Smyly and the Phillies, there are still going to be some concerns moving forward to make sure he doesn’t return to the low level that played a role in his release from the Rangers in June.
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Maybe once Smyly gets a few other starts under his belt, Kapler and Phillies fans in general can discuss whether the Lee comparisons seem fair, but for now, the main focus should just be on his second start later this week.