Brewers Spotlight: Shane Smith's Sensational Season, a Product of Perseverance

[Seth Stohs]

On an all-new Brewers Spotlight show, I was joined by Brewers minor-league reliever Shane Smith. Prospect status and player development are not linear, and it sure hasn’t been for Smith. But he had a breakout season in 2023, spending time between the Carolina Mudcats and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and ending the year at Double-A with the Biloxi Shuckers. 

Image courtesy of Neal Hock, Carolina Mudcats

Shane Smith grew up in Danvers, Massachusetts, and he attended The Governor’s Academy in Byfield. In his school, he was successful on the football field and the basketball court, but he really stood out on the baseball diamond. While he had some offers to play football in college, he decided early to attend Wake Forest University. Interestingly, his dad played baseball at George Washington, where his coach was Tom Walter. That same Tom Walter is now beginning his 15th season as the head coach at Wake Forest. 

Unfortunately, as a freshman in 2019, he hurt his shoulder, had surgery, and had to use a redshirt season. As a redshirt freshman in 2020, he became the team’s closer early in the season. Unfortunately, that season was cut short due to Covid. In 2021, he moved to the starting rotation. He made two starts before an elbow injury, and Tommy John surgery ended that season. 

What was their sales pitch? “Take a chance. You could say my arm is low mileage because of the innings,” Smith said with a chuckle. 

At that point, Smith and his family had a choice. Stay at Wake Forest, rehab the elbow, and hope to play in 2023. Or, he could make it known to teams that he wanted to turn pro, rehab with professional coaches, and see how it goes. Well, that’s what he did, and with just 10 1/3 innings of work in college over the three previous seasons, it was a lot of work. What was his sales pitch? 

On July 20, 2021, just a week after the draft's conclusion, the Milwaukee Brewers offered him a contract, and Smith happily signed.  

 

He continued to work very hard in rehab and recovery, but in late 2022, he pitched in three innings (over three games) in the Arizona Complex League. It may seem minor, but it was important for him to know that he could pitch again before heading to an offseason. 

When he went to Arizona for spring training in 2023, he was excited to get on the mound again and join a team. The season, frankly, couldn’t have gone any better for him. Regardless of the numbers, he was able to stay healthy. There were certainly restrictions. For instance, not once did he pitch on back-to-back days, but that’s just smart with a 23-year-old with a strong arm and a 6-4 frame. 

He began the season with 19 games at Low-A Carolina, where he went 4-3 with four saves, a 2.59 ERA, and a 1.05 WHIP. In 31 1/3 innings, he walked 10 and struck out 50 batters. That earned him a promotion to High-A Wisconsin, where he was even better. He went 3-1 with six saves. He posted a 1.37 ERA with a 0.84 WHIP. In 26 1/3 innings, he had 10 walks to go with 34 strikeouts. Finally, he ended the season with two scoreless innings at Double-A Biloxi. Not a bad run at all. He tossed a total of 59 2/3 innings. He had 86 strikeouts (13.0 K/9) with just 21 walks (3.2 BB/9). He kept the ball in the ballpark (0.8 HR/9) and didn’t allow many hits (5.4 H/9). It's fair to say he was the easy call as the Brewer Fanatic Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. For more articles on this site that Shane Smith has been tagged in, click here.  

Smith ended the year with a couple of outings in the Arizona Fall League. 

Chatting with and getting to know minor leaguers and their stories and backgrounds is always fun. It’s also obvious when talking to someone who truly loves the game and knows it because he’s had to miss so much time. 

Join me in the comments below to wish him good health and success in 2024! 

Here is a quick look at the timeline of our Brewers Spotlight conversation. This interview is just over an hour, so be sure to come back and listen to more of it as you have time. Check out this and other videos here. 

• 1:45: Earliest memories on the baseball diamond. 
• 4:10: Did you play other sports in high school? 
• 6:35: How good were your high school baseball teams? Did you play in the regional or national types of events? Did you play other positions? 
• 11:10: When did you commit to Wake Forest, and what was your recruitment process? What made Wake Forest the right choice for you? 
• 15:00: What was your major or area of study going into college? 
• 17:50: What was the transition between high school and college, especially after missing that 2019 season with an injury? 
• 20:40: Coaching staff at Wake Forest as well as their pitching lab? 
• 24:30: The emotions of blowing out his elbow for him and his family. 
• 26:00: The process of rehabbing, signing with the Brewers, and finding an interested team. What were the conversations like? What were the selling points? 
• 28:00: The story of hearing from the Brewers about signing and more emotions. 
• 34:00: Going into the 2023 season, what were the goals and limitations, and what was it like to get out of Arizona and to the full-season leagues?
• 36:20: Dominated in Wisconsin. 
• 38:45: Ended in Biloxi. He is now where he likely would have been (most likely) had he just been drafted and healthy in 2021. Was that a goal or even a stretch goal heading into the season? 
• 41:15: Setting Goals vs. compartmentalizing the goals and the season. 
• 43:30: What numbers or stats do you look at? How do you use any analytics from the team? 
• 45:50: I asked Shane to bring a baseball, and we discussed his variety of pitches, looking at the grips and what goes into the development of those pitches and new pitches. (For real, he wasn’t flipping me off.)
• 53:45: What was your Arizona Fall League experience?
• 54:50: Who are the key people in your support system and others who have helped you get to this point in your career? 
• 57:15: How do you get away from the game, in-season or off-season? 
• 59:20: What do you listen to, music or podcasts? 
• 1:01:35: You grew up a Red Sox fan. Who were your favorite players and teams? 

Thank you so much to Shane Smith for answering our questions so thoroughly and thoughtfully.

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[biedergb]

Great interview. It’s always interesting to see how guys get to where they are, but this is such a unique path. Injured for his two seasons in college that bracketed the Covid 2020 shutdown season.

yeah his arm was low mileage. But coming off 2 injuries and only 11 IP, had to think a scout liked something in his arsenal to take a flier.  And he is still young. Hopefully he has a healthy season, and continues on his momentum from last year. 
Does anyone have a scouting report on his pitches? Or a link to an article?