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HE'S NO AVERAGE JOE; by Kevin Kernan, NY Post
Topic Started: Mar 3 2007, 08:06 PM (94 Views)
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March 3, 2007 -- JUPITER, Fla. - So I walk up to side-arming Joe Smith, and playing the part of the wise guy, say, "Joe Smith. That's the most common name in America."

"I've heard that my whole life, but I've never met another one," the Mets reliever answers with a smile, although he did admit to collecting all the Joe Smith basketball cards he could get his hands on and wore the jersey of the 6-foot-10 NBA forward when he was a kid .

Baseball's Joe Smith continues to make a name for himself. He had another strong outing yesterday in the Mets' 6-5 win over the Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. The Mets are taking it slow with the rehabbing reliever Duaner Sanchez and Smith's stock continues to rise as the come-from-nowhere story of the spring.

A year ago at this time Smith, 22, was playing college ball at Wright State. Now he is the right man in the right place. The right-hander throws first-pitch strikes, and, here's the key, pounds the strike zone low and gets batters to swing and miss at pitches that are in the strike zone.

That is a huge measuring stick for the Mets.

Not all strikes are created equal.

It's one thing for a batter to swing at a pitch out of the strike zone. You see that a lot in the minor leagues; that's why minor league strikeout statistics can be so misleading.

"Major league hitters don't swing at those pitches," explained Mets bullpen coach Guy Conti, Rick Peterson's right-hand man.

It's quite another for a batter to swing and miss at a strike. That is something the Mets watch closely.

"He looks to me that he is not intimidated at all being here," Conti said of Smith. "He throws the ball over the plate and he starts throwing ground ball after ground ball, that's what we need. I look at three things: swing-and-miss pitches in the strike zone, ground ball to fly ball ratio and a put-away pitch."
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