smith

PAWTUCKET — Pawtucket Red Sox pitcher Chris Smith doesn’t like to waste time.

When he’s on the mound, he works quickly and usually gets the job done. Smith, a seven-year pro in the Red Sox organization, has always faced adversity in his career but now he feels he’s back where he needs to be.

Originally selected by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2002 draft, the one-time pitching prospect suffered a compound fracture in his right pitching forearm prior to the 2003 season. He had just completed a promising rookie campaign with Single-A Lowell, but the injury, which required surgery, halted his development.

He returned to the mound in 2003 in a dramatic comeback. Smith began the 2004 season with Double-A Portland, but after 14 starts he suffered a bout of tendinitis in his throwing shoulder and was shut down for the remainder of the year.

The summer of 2005 was much the same as he continued to battle the shoulder problems. He eventually needed surgery to repair a torn labrum. For the last two seasons he has split time between Portland and Pawtucket.

He began this season with the Sea Dogs but never threw a pitch until he was called up to Pawtucket on April 7 to replace Bartolo Colon, who suffered an oblique strain. Since his arrival at McCoy Stadium, Smith has worked as both a starter and reliever and compiled a 1-2 record with one save and a 1.65 ERA.

Smith was impressive Thursday night, working two perfect innings of relief against the Durham Bulls to help Pawtucket to a 3-2 victory. PawSox manager Ron Johnson called Smith’s outing “dirty” and he expects to see much more of that this season.

“I feel really good,” said Smith. “Actually, I feel 100-percent great. I’m high on confidence and it’s the best I’ve felt post-surgery. I feel like nothing has ever happened. I understood it would take a little time, and that’s what they told me, and I figured out it does take time. I can’t wait to throw every day and I feel healthy.”

Smith said he was a little impatient at first because the shoulder was not responding as quickly as he hoped. In fact, it took 2½ years before he felt back to normal. The process, he says, was long and arduous, something he had to get used to. Still, Smith didn’t think it would take this long.

“Not a chance,” he said. “I was ready for a year and a half (rehab) and here I am almost four years after the surgery and 100 percent. After a year and a half, I was competing but not getting guys out. I wanted to see some conviction behind my pitches and that’s what I’m seeing now.”

Smith is 27 now and he hasn’t been considered a prospect for a few years. That’s not to say he’s out of the loop because with the way he’s pitched of late he has put himself back on the radar.

“Yeah, when you’re younger you want to hear that you’re a prospect,” he said. “When you get older, you’re not a prospect anymore. You might be a name that gets mentioned, but you’re no where near a prospect. Some people say they don’t want to be on the radar; they want to be below the radar. Now it’s time for me to be on the radar. I want people to start knowing that I’m doing well.”

Not only has Smith had to deal with the shoulder injury and long recovery period, his role has changed, too. The right-hander has been a starter. He’s been a reliever. It’s flip-flopped so many times now it must be hard to figure out what he’s actually doing.

“Whatever role they put me in, I just want to go 100 percent,” he said. “If I’m a starter, I want to make a long impact, and if I’m a reliever, I want to make a short impact.

Smith’s repertoire includes a fastball — usually between 88 and 92 mph — a nasty curve ball and an above-average changeup. His velocity is back to where it was pre-surgery and Johnson said he couldn’t be more pleased with Smith’s performances.

Johnson managed Portland when Smith was blowing away opposing hitters in 2004, recording 85 strikeouts in 74 1/3 innings of work. Now, to see the kind of success he’s having makes it even better for the Pawtucket manager.

“I couldn’t be more excited about a player as I am with him in a long time,” said Johnson. “He has above-average game awareness when he pitches. He always had above-average command, but the thing he was lacking was getting that velocity back after the surgery. I couldn’t be more excited about the guy.”

The Boston Red Sox felt that earlier in Smith’s career that he had the potential to be a major-league pitcher. Even though his career suffered a detour, it appears he’s worthy enough again to be considered.

jmcdonal@projo.com