Josh Smith to Make Major League Debut Tuesday in Pittsburgh

By Peyton Wesner

If someone would have said at the beginning of Spring Training that prospects Raisel Iglesias, Michael Lorenzen, and Jon Moscot would all make their Major League debuts this season for the Cincinnati Reds, most residents of Ohio would have laughed at the thought, but due to injuries within the rotation all three have. Now, it is time to add another to the list. 

Josh Smith, the twenty-first round selection of the Reds in the 2010 MLB Draft, will be the fourth rookie pitcher to make his Major League debut for Cincinnati in 2015 as he is tomorrow's starter in the series opener with Pittsburgh. Smith was recalled from Triple-A Louisville this evening to start in the place of Johnny Cueto. According to a Reds' spokesman, the decision to call up the twenty-seven year old for tomorrow's start is to give Cueto a couple more days of rest for his next start, Friday against the New York Mets. 

The Lipscomb University product has possessed great stats the last four seasons in the Reds' organization (44-31 record overall) and has not won fewer than nine games in a season since 2010. So far this season, Smith is 4-4 with an earned run average of 3.04 and sixty strikeouts in thirteen starts between Dayton (Single-A), Pensacola (Double-A), and Louisville (Triple-A). 

After Smith's start on Tuesday, Reds' manager Bryan Price will start Mike Leake and Anthony DeSclafani to conclude the series. It is unknown whether Smith will be optioned immediately after his start for the reinstatement of Aroldis Chapman (paternity leave), but one would think, if not Smith, someone will be demoted very soon for the All-Star closer's return. The Reds head into PNC Park with four wins in their last five and a 32-36 overall record. Currently they are twelve and a half games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for first in the National League Central and four and a half games behind the team holding the last Wild Card spot, the San Francisco Giants.