John Smoltz

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Atlanta Braves #4 prospect in 1989
  Smoltz reached the majors last July and made a wondrous debut: He held the Mets to four hits in eight innings in a win at Shea Stadium. Reality set in after that, and Smoltz was 1-7, 6.11 ERA in his final 11 starts. Smoltz’s problems during that stretch sparked talk he may be better used as a reliever. Smoltz throws harder than anyone in the organization, but his other pitches aren’t refined enough to back up his fastball.
• 
  Ranked Atlanta Braves #6 prospect in 1988
  Don’t let his numbers last summer be deceiving. This is a young man with an armful of potential. His command has been a major problem--123 walks and 133 strikeouts in 244 innings--but the Braves seemed to get that worked out at instructional league. Smoltz was a victim of too much advice with the Tigers. Trying to please his instructors, he was trying to throw a variety of breaking balls and changeups, and had not mastered any of them. The Braves finally had him settle down on one breaking ball and one changeup to complement an overpowering fastball. Suddenly, the strike zone does not appear to be the twilight zone.
• 
  Ranked Detroit Tigers #2 prospect in 1987
  The Tigers took a shot in the dark by drafting Smoltz in the 22nd round of the 1985 draft, then came up with what it took at the 11th hour to convince him to sign instead of playing baseball at Michigan State. Signing late cost Smoltz his 1985 season, and an elbow injury put a damper on 1986. He was 4-0 with a 1.57 ERA at high Class A Lakeland before being hurt. Initially, he came back and was tentative in throwing the ball, but by the end of the season was going strong again. Smoltz needs to smooth out his mechanics, but has a legitimate fastball, good straight changeup and both a hard and soft curveball.
• 
  Ranked Detroit Tigers #9 prospect in 1986
  Smoltz, a high school phenom out of Lansing, Mich., is one of the Tigers’ true products. Detroit gambled that it could talk Smoltz out of attending school at Michigan State by drafting him in the 22nd round last June--and won. Smoltz, however, signed too late to make his pro debut, choosing instead to pitch in the World Junior Championships. He did, however, show up at instructional league, where major league pitching coach Billy Muffett began what will be a long-term project of refining Smoltz’s crude pitching mechanics.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked International League #1 prospect in 1988
  International League managers thought Smoltz was a major league pitcher even before his callup to Atlanta. That's a testament to the way he conducted himself on the mound and to his repertoire of pitches he showed with Richmond. “He has the best combination of fastball and breaking ball for a guy his age I’ve seen in a long time,” Maine manager George Culver said. Even teams that defeated Smoltz wondered how. “He got stronger, threw harder, as the game went along,” one manager said. Add in Smoltz’s maturity and Culver sees a winner. “He’s growing by leaps and bounds,” he said. “It’s just fun to watch someone pitch with that kind of stuff.”
• 
  Ranked Eastern League #9 prospect in 1987
  Whenever you hear Smoltz’s name, you hear “great arm” mentioned quickly afterward. The Tigers traded Smoltz to Atlanta late in the season for Doyle Alexander. Smoltz has a blazing fastball but didn’t have the control of it at Glens Falls to get Double-A hitters out consistently and had a relatively high ERA. Reading manager George Culver, for one, thinks Smoltz will end up as a short reliever in the mold of Goose Gossage. “He’ll blow you away for an inning or two and show way above-average stuff,” Culver said. “He’ll look like a big league pitcher. But then he will lose it and show nothing special. That’s why I think you’ll see him as a relief pitcher.”
• 
  Ranked Florida State League #5 prospect in 1986
  At 19 and in his first professional season, Smoltz made an impressive debut in the Florida State League. Smoltz brought his blazing fastball with him to Lakeland and jumped out to a 4-0 record and 1.57 ERA before injuring his elbow and sitting out most of the middle of the season. After the long layoff, Smoltz slumped and finished with a 7-8 mark and 3.45 ERA. He struck out 51 in 99 innings, while walking 31. Lakeland manager Tom Burgess blamed himself for part of Smoltz’s slump. “I didn’t let him pitch out of some of the jams he got into, because I didn’t want to risk re-injuring his arm,” Burgess said. Smoltz was a 22nd-round draft pick out of high school in Lansing, Mich. The Tigers had to talk him out of attending Michigan State before signing him to a contract in late summer 1985.

• December, 1988 Scouting Report
  Smoltz reached the majors last July and made a wondrous debut: He held the Mets to four hits in eight innings in a win at Shea Stadium. Reality set in after that, and Smoltz was 1-7, 6.11 ERA in his final 11 starts. Smoltz’s problems during that stretch sparked talk he may be better used as a reliever. Smoltz throws harder than anyone in the organization, but his other pitches aren’t refined enough to back up his fastball.
• December, 1987 Scouting Report
  Don’t let his numbers last summer be deceiving. This is a young man with an armful of potential. His command has been a major problem--123 walks and 133 strikeouts in 244 innings--but the Braves seemed to get that worked out at instructional league. Smoltz was a victim of too much advice with the Tigers. Trying to please his instructors, he was trying to throw a variety of breaking balls and changeups, and had not mastered any of them. The Braves finally had him settle down on one breaking ball and one changeup to complement an overpowering fastball. Suddenly, the strike zone does not appear to be the twilight zone.
• December, 1987 Scouting Report
  International League managers thought Smoltz was a major league pitcher even before his callup to Atlanta. That's a testament to the way he conducted himself on the mound and to his repertoire of pitches he showed with Richmond. “He has the best combination of fastball and breaking ball for a guy his age I’ve seen in a long time,” Maine manager George Culver said. Even teams that defeated Smoltz wondered how. “He got stronger, threw harder, as the game went along,” one manager said. Add in Smoltz’s maturity and Culver sees a winner. “He’s growing by leaps and bounds,” he said. “It’s just fun to watch someone pitch with that kind of stuff.”
• December, 1986 Scouting Report
  The Tigers took a shot in the dark by drafting Smoltz in the 22nd round of the 1985 draft, then came up with what it took at the 11th hour to convince him to sign instead of playing baseball at Michigan State. Signing late cost Smoltz his 1985 season, and an elbow injury put a damper on 1986. He was 4-0 with a 1.57 ERA at high Class A Lakeland before being hurt. Initially, he came back and was tentative in throwing the ball, but by the end of the season was going strong again. Smoltz needs to smooth out his mechanics, but has a legitimate fastball, good straight changeup and both a hard and soft curveball.
• December, 1986 Scouting Report
  Whenever you hear Smoltz’s name, you hear “great arm” mentioned quickly afterward. The Tigers traded Smoltz to Atlanta late in the season for Doyle Alexander. Smoltz has a blazing fastball but didn’t have the control of it at Glens Falls to get Double-A hitters out consistently and had a relatively high ERA. Reading manager George Culver, for one, thinks Smoltz will end up as a short reliever in the mold of Goose Gossage. “He’ll blow you away for an inning or two and show way above-average stuff,” Culver said. “He’ll look like a big league pitcher. But then he will lose it and show nothing special. That’s why I think you’ll see him as a relief pitcher.”
• December, 1985 Scouting Report
  Smoltz, a high school phenom out of Lansing, Mich., is one of the Tigers’ true products. Detroit gambled that it could talk Smoltz out of attending school at Michigan State by drafting him in the 22nd round last June--and won. Smoltz, however, signed too late to make his pro debut, choosing instead to pitch in the World Junior Championships. He did, however, show up at instructional league, where major league pitching coach Billy Muffett began what will be a long-term project of refining Smoltz’s crude pitching mechanics.
• December, 1985 Scouting Report
  At 19 and in his first professional season, Smoltz made an impressive debut in the Florida State League. Smoltz brought his blazing fastball with him to Lakeland and jumped out to a 4-0 record and 1.57 ERA before injuring his elbow and sitting out most of the middle of the season. After the long layoff, Smoltz slumped and finished with a 7-8 mark and 3.45 ERA. He struck out 51 in 99 innings, while walking 31. Lakeland manager Tom Burgess blamed himself for part of Smoltz’s slump. “I didn’t let him pitch out of some of the jams he got into, because I didn’t want to risk re-injuring his arm,” Burgess said. Smoltz was a 22nd-round draft pick out of high school in Lansing, Mich. The Tigers had to talk him out of attending Michigan State before signing him to a contract in late summer 1985.