April 8, 2021 6:07 AM : Smith walked one and struck out five over two scoreless innings of relief in Wednesday's 8-0 loss to Colorado.
Analysis: Earlier in the day, the Diamondbacks announced Smith was moving out of the rotation and into the bullpen. The move appeared to agree with the left-hander on Wednesday. Smith did not pitch well this spring -- particularly in his final two starts (12 runs in 9.1 innings) -- and manager Torey Lovullo had a quick hook following one disappointing regular-season start. "We just feel like the best thing for this team right now is to put him in the bullpen," Lovullo told Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. "Just give him a chance to work on a couple things. You know, we feel like he's close. He's got great stuff. We're looking for him to be a little more consistent and we feel like this will give him the opportunity to go and work on a couple things." There was no word on which pitcher will replace Smith in the rotation, but judging by the manager's comments, he could eventually reclaim a starting role.