New Cubs Pitcher Plays with a Heavy Heart

By now you have heard that the Chicago Cubs have acquired the Los Angeles Angels right handed reliever, Joe Smith. This comes at the perfect time as the Cubs bullpen just pitched nine innings in last night’s marathon, and have been overworked as of late in general. Smith can give the Cubs that extra veteran arm that manager Joe Maddon can trust in important innings, and Smith’s unusual style can give hitters fits as they try to adjust to his unique arm angle.

But for everything that Smith can give to the Cubs, the Cubs just might be giving back to him. Smith’s mother, who lives in Cincinnati, is battling in her fifth year with a degenerative disorder called Huntington’s disease (HD). HD attacks ones physical and mental abilities, and to date has no cure. What makes this disease even scarier is that it has about a 50/50 chance of being passed onto the children of those who suffer from this devastating sickness.

While playing in Chicago doesn’t necessarily give Joe the opportunity to be by his mother’s side as she continues to battle, it does give him a little peace of mind as he is closer to home, should something turn for the worse.

“She would feel guilty for pulling me away,” Smith said. “She wants me to play baseball and win a World Series. At the same time, I want to be by her. She wants me close, but she would never say that.”

With Chicago being about a five hour drive to Cincinnati, or about a hour or so flight, Joe could reasonably visit without interrupting his duties to the Cubs, which could certainly pay dividends on Smith’s mental state.

Smith had a four year stretch in which he was one of the better relievers in the American League. Pitching for both the Angels and the Cleveland Indians, he held a 2.25 ERA, 169 ERA+, 3.20 FIP, and 1.060 WHIP during that time. Perhaps the weight of trade rumors, as well as being closer to home, and in the heat of a pennant chase will all equal out to Smith pitching more like the 2014 version of himself.

Jamie Baker

Hi, I’m Jamie and I run this site. I’ve published work on multiple other sites and through that experience I decided to create CHICAGO style SPORTS. We truly aim to speak for the Chicago fan. Additionally, as a member of the IBWAA (Internet Baseball Writers Association of America) you can be assured that all content you read will be written with incredible integrity.

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