Nate Smith

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Los Angeles Angels #5 prospect in 2017
  A 2016 Futures Game participant, Smith originally signed for a bargain price of $12,000 after being Furman's highest draft pick since 1972. Smith is the closest of the organization's top prospects to making it to the big leagues. In fact, he likely would have made his debut in 2016, especially considering the pitching woes on the big league club, had it not been for some minor elbow tendinitis toward the end of the year. Smith survived his first Triple-A Pacific Coast League season with diminished fastball velocity. His fastball typically sat in the upper 80s while touching 92 mph and comes out of a somewhat funky arm action and high three-quarters arm slot. The plus changeup that he throws 75-77 mph and commands well is the difference-maker for Smith. It's a pitch that he uses to get swings-and-misses, but his reduced fastball velocity seemed to make him more reliant on the changeup, according to some observers. He added an 80 mph slider in 2015 and now uses it more than his mid-70s curveball, and it has become his bat-missing pitch. Smith has to be fine but has above-average control. Smith will go to spring training in 2017 with a decent chance of making the Opening Day roster, possibly as a long reliever. He has the pitching smarts and mound presence to handle a big league role, assuming his elbow woes are behind him.
• 
  Ranked Los Angeles Angels #3 prospect in 2016
  Since signing for just $12,000, Smith has advanced rapidly through the system and could reach the big leagues as soon as 2016. Turning in an impressive half-year in his return to Double-A Arkansas after finishing the 2014 season there, Smith then headed to Toronto with Team USA for the Pan American Games. There, he earned the win against Cuba in the semifinal. He finished the season with seven starts at Triple-A Salt Lake, where fatigue and the Pacific Coast League got to him. Smith added a viable fourth pitch to his repertoire in 2015, as his serviceable slider helped his other pitches play up. Armed with the new pitch, he's more of a safe bet to stay in the rotation as a No. 4 starter instead of profiling as more of a swingman. Smith's fastball sits 87-91 mph, delivered from a high three-quarters arm slot. The difference-maker in Smith's arsenal is a plus changeup he commands well and uses to get swings and misses. Rounding out his repertoire is an average curveball in the mid-70s. He consistently lands all four of his pitches in the strike zone. Smith will get another shot at Triple-A in 2016 and could be one of the first pitchers called up when an arm is needed.
• 
  Ranked Los Angeles Angels #14 prospect in 2015
  Smith was an economical $12,000 senior sign after the end of his four-year career at Furman, with the Angels taking him in the eighth round in 2013. He jumped to high Class A Inland Empire as the club's No. 1 starter in 2014 before a midseason promotion to Double-A Arkansas. It's all about pitchability and deception for Smith. His fringe-average fastball ranges from 87-91 mph and more often sits in the high 80s, but he pounds the zone with strikes using an high-three-quarters to over-the-top delivery. His best pitch is a plus changeup that he commands well at 76 mph. Smith also has two breaking balls--an average slider in the 80-81 mph range and a slightly below-average curveball in the mid-70s. He's got a solid work ethic, projecting as a back-end starter with a low ceiling but high floor. Smith pitched just as effectively at Double-A as he did in the first half of the season, with a 2.89 ERA and 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings. He could break camp at Triple-A Salt Lake with a good spring training.

• December, 2016 Scouting Report
  Background: A 2016 Futures Game participant, Smith originally signed for a bargain price of $12,000 after being Furman's highest draft pick since 1972. Smith is the closest of the organization's top prospects to making it to the big leagues. In fact, he likely would have made his debut in 2016, especially considering the pitching woes on the big league club, had it not been for some minor elbow tendinitis towards the end of the year. Scouting Report: Smith survived his first Triple-A Pacific Coast League season with diminished fastball velocity. His fastball typically sat in the upper 80s while touching 92 mph and comes out of a somewhat funky arm action and high three-quarters arm slot. The plus changeup that he throws 75-77 mph and commands well is the difference-maker for Smith. It's a pitch that he uses to get swings-and-misses, but his reduced fastball velocity seemed to make him more reliant on the changeup, according to some observers. He added an 80 mph slider in 2015 and now uses it more than his mid-70s curveball, and it has become his bat-missing pitch. Smith has to be fine but has above-average control.
  
  The Future: Smith will go to spring training in 2017 with a decent chance of making the Opening Day roster, possibly as a long reliever. He has the pitching smarts and mound presence to handle a big league role, assuming his elbow woes are behind him.