Smith, Baird, & Pearson - Three Promising Pitchers

Jaylen Smith, Cam Baird, and Braden Pearson are minor league players who caught my attention this season for various reasons. While none of the three are listed on their respective Top 30 team prospect lists or came in as highly touted players, all showed potential.

Major League Baseball may be the focus of attention for most fans, but following minor league players gives you a look at the future of the sport. The top prospects get a lot of attention, and for good reason, but many young players are working their way through the system who are worth watching, including these three.

Smith, Baird, and Pearson were all first-year professionals in the summer of 2018. None of the three threw more than 18 innings, and all three were on teams with large pitching staffs, all vying for chances to pitch in competition. Each man had more good outings than bad, a formula that is obviously a path to success. 

Smith, an 18-year-old left-handed pitcher, was the Phillies 29th round pick out of Copperas Cove High School, in Copperas Cove, Texas, and is the only one of the three that I've seen pitch in person. He played high school ball in the same Texas 6A district as my son Brendan. In late spring 2018, Smith was on the mound at home against Brendan's team, Ellison High School. Brendan told me that his team had not fared well against Smith in previous games and as I sat in the Cove High School stands watching him warm up, I could see why.

That night, Smith threw six strong innings, striking out 13 Ellison batters, allowing three hits and two earned runs to earn the win. His four-seam fastball hit the low 90's and, mixed with a curve and changeup, he had the hitters off balance all night. Smith walked six, but I watched him struggle with his footing on the mound, and I attribute the walks to a rough landing spot, throwing him off.

Brendan, also a left-hander, had pitched on the same mound several times, and he told me it was bumpy and difficult to land smoothly (the photo at the top of this article is Brendan pitching from the Copperas Cove HS mound.) Brendan had spoken highly of Smith's abilities, and after seeing him pitch, I was equally impressed.

We were not surprised in the least when in June, Smith was drafted by the Phillies – the only athlete in the district to be picked. Wearing #12, the same number he wore in high school, he was placed with the Gulf Coast League Phillies West, in Clearwater, Florida.

Baird and Pearson were teammates at Texas State University, where my son is now a freshman and hopes to make the team as a walk-on. I have not seen either of them pitch, but as they are TXST alums, they are part of the same university family of which Brendan is now a member. 

Baird, 22, is a right-handed pitcher from Raton, New Mexico. He was picked in the 20th round by the Miami Marlins, and assigned to their Gulf Coast League affiliate in Jupiter, Florida. His college teammate Pearson, is a 22-year-old left hander from Temple, Texas. Pearson was not drafted, but two weeks after Smith and Baird were picked, the Texas Rangers signed him as a free agent, and sent him to their Arizona Rookie League team in Surprise, Arizona, a Phoenix suburb.

All three men pitched well at times, and not so well in other games – to be expected for any athlete. Looking at the bottom season line for each of the three doesn't give an accurate picture of how they did. The interesting thing about all three is that each had two especially rough outings – appearances that inflated their ERAs and WHIPs, amid a majority of successful mound stints. I know that everything counts, however in each case, subtracting each man's two worst outings shows a different picture.

Looking at the numbers, you see that Smith had two appearances allowing more than one run. Those two games amount to one inning pitched: 2/3 of an inning on July 14, and 1/3 IP on August 10. In those two games, he gave up eight earned runs, yet in only two other appearances did he allow even one run. Without those two games, his ERA and WHIP would have been 1.61 and 1.70 (rather than 7.11 ERA and 2.29 WHIP.)

Baird's statistics show a similar pattern. In 13 games, he allowed more than one run twice. In fact, all season, he gave up an earned run in only three appearances. In his first professional game, on June 21, Baird gave up four hits, two walks, and three earned runs. In his sixth appearance, on July 18, he gave up two hits, three walks, and four earned runs. Subtracting those two outings, his ERA and WHIP would have been 0.60 and 0.93 (instead of 4.00 ERA and 1.50 WHIP.)

Pearson's record shows three games where he gave up more than one run, but I'm subtracting two. In 16 appearances, wielding a sinker, slider, and changeup, he allowed a run five times. Like Baird, Pearson's first professional game (June 19) was difficult, and saw him surrender six hits, one walk, and six earned runs. On August 7, he gave up three hits, no walks, and three earned runs. Without those two games, Pearson's ERA and WHIP are 2.37 and 1.25 (actual, 6.50 ERA and 1.61 WHIP.)

Admittedly, I'm looking strictly at the numbers. I did not see any of these guys pitch in professional games, so I cannot know the things a box score does not show. Baseball scouts and coaches are analytical and stat oriented in their evaluations of players and, they can watch pitchers throw. A coach can decide from what he sees with a pitcher on the mound, if his mechanics are off or different from previous efforts.

As mentioned, everything counts. Cherry-picking stats can allow you to show any result you want to; however, it is possible or likely that for each of these three men, two difficult days on the mound were anomalies.

I'm not making excuses for games when they were not at their best. Sometimes, you're just off, and on other occasions batters may simply be dialed in and hitting everything. Hitters hit good pitches sometimes, and every pitcher has days when it appears he is doing everything right, but he still gets hit. These guys are professionals, and they surely know that there are no do-overs. When they have the ball, they are responsible for what happens, and the statistics belong to them. 

Every pitcher in the Gulf Coast and Arizona Leagues operated under the disadvantage of the sheer numbers of pitchers wearing the same uniform. Smith's team had 18 active pitchers, Baird's Marlins had 21, and Pearson's Rangers show 25 hurlers (those numbers do not count players on suspension or on the 60-day disabled list.) Game appearances were few and far between for most of them, and they had to make the best of the chances they had.

Just looking at the numbers convinces me that all three of these men show considerable promise. The 2019 season will be a fresh opportunity for them to improve, and there is always room for growth, especially for competitive people who look to make it happen. Baird mentioned that among his arsenal of pitches, including a two-seam and four-seam fastball, and curveball, his changeup was "the pitch that developed most this summer," a statement clearly indicating a plan to use what he has learned so far to become a better pitcher.

All three men have the chance next season to develop their approaches, mechanics, and pitches to increase their opportunities for advancement. It is a safe bet that Jaylen Smith, Cam Baird, and Braden Pearson have what it takes to improve and continue to move up through the minor leagues. They are for sure, talented, hard-working, promising professional pitchers.

Update:

Braden Pearson was released in March 2019, the day before he was scheduled to report to Spring Training. He later signed with the Cleburne Railroaders of the independent American Association. After the 2019 season, he was traded to the New York Boulders, Frontier League (independent.)

Cam Baird was released in January 2020 in a wave of minor league releases due to the cancellation of the 2020 Minor League season. 

Statistics courtesy MiLB.com.

Thanks to David Morris, Publisher, Copperas Cove Leader-Press for his help in finding a box score.

Thanks also to Jaylen Smith, Cam Baird, & Braden Pearson for providing helpful information, & Brendan Manch for editing assistance.

Larry Manch is an author, teacher, guitar player, freelance writer, and columnist. His books include: 'Twisted Logic: 50 Edgy Flash Fiction Stories', 'The Toughest Hundred Dollars & Other Rock & Roll Stories','A Sports Junkie', 'The Avery Appointment', 'Between the Fuzzy Parts'. His books are available in paperback and e-book.

He writes about sports for Season Tickets, food and travel on Miles & Meals, and music/guitars on The Backbeat.

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