PEORIA, Ariz. - In the competition to become Mark Melancon's principal setup man, do not sleep on left-hander Will Smith.
Smith largely has been forgotten this spring because of an elbow injury, but he debuted with a scoreless inning against the Rockies on Friday night could challenge Derek Law and Hunter Strickland for eighth-inning supremacy.
He made a great impression after his midseason acquisition from Milwaukee and finished 2016 with 18 consecutive scoreless outings. He allowed four hits over his final 13 2/3 innings and struck out 20. Control has hurt the 27-year-old, but he walked just one of his final 24 hitters.