DataBaseball
2026
Drew Smyly headshot

Pitcher · 2024

Drew Smyly

Age
35
B/T
L/L
Height
6' 2"
Weight
188 lb
Born
June 13, 1989 in Little Rock, AR, USA
MLB debut
April 12, 2012
Drafted
2010, round 2
College
Arkansas
High school
Little Rock Central
Salary, 2024
$8.5M
dbWAR
-.3
1 season(s)
IP
58.2
ERA
3.84
FIP
4.91
K/9
8.6
FIP−
120
100 = avg

Drew Smyly is a relief pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. In 2024 he struck out 56 batters over 58.2 innings across 50 appearances, going 4-8. His ERA of 3.84 was 6.0% lower than the league average of 4.08 — 11th of 17 on his team, and 259th of 541 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 4.91 FIP suggests that his ERA had some help behind him. He missed bats on 25.1% of swings (12.1% of every pitch he threw), walked 9.7% of the batters he faced and struck out 21.8%. His -0.3 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.

League context

Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2024.

FIP4.91
K/98.6
WHIP1.40
WAR-.3

Platoon splits

How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.

Opponent batting by the side the hitter bats from, 2024. Counted from play-by-play, so totals can differ from the box-score season line by a plate appearance or two.
SplitPAABHHRBBSOAVGOBPSLGwOBAK%
vs LHB114102263922.255.333.353.31119.3%
vs RHB1431243171634.250.333.468.34023.8%

Pitch sequencing

What Drew Smyly throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.

ShowBatter
Knuckle curveSinkerCutter

Select a count to see exactly what Drew Smyly throws in it.

Pitch arsenal

What he throws, how hard, and how often it misses in 2024.

Knuckle Curve48.6%49480.02,28344.3%33.3%
Sinker47.7%48592.62,15950.1%16.1%
Cutter3.3%3488.62,14832.4%40.0%
Drew Smyly's arsenal by usage. Velocity is average release speed in mph, spin in rpm, and whiff rate is misses per swing — the cleanest single measure of whether a pitch beats hitters.

Pitching

Standard and advanced, by season.

Trend
202450058.2480572556253.844.911.408.63.894120-0.3

Head to head

Put Drew Smyly beside up to three others.

Compare — add up to 3 more players
Drew Smyly

Similar players

Nearest 2024 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.

How these are computed

wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.