When Braves starter Drew Smyly logged six innings in Tuesday’s win over the Reds, his biggest fan was in attendance for the first time in over two years.
Smyly’s father, Todd, was in an Infiniti Suite at Truist Park to see his son pitch in person for the first time since early 2019. Todd has been enduring health problems, including colon cancer and cirrhosis. Smyly went home to Arkansas to visit his father late in spring training, which was the most recent time he’d seen him.
“He went in for a pretty routine surgery at the end of spring training and ended up spending three months in the hospital,” Smyly said. “We weren’t sure if he was going to make it some of those days. But he’s been doing a lot better recently and finally worked up the strength to make a trip here from Arkansas. It was cool we were able to come out with a win.”
Smyly went six innings for the first time since June 25 (eight starts). The southpaw has pitched well in that span, posting a 3.41 ERA with 31 strikeouts against 12 walks. Since a tough start in April, Smyly has become a reliable part of the Braves’ rotation, helping make the group one of the team’s strengths.
The lefty also struck out seven Tuesday, his most since July 2. And he did it with his father in the building.
“He’s my biggest fan so it’s exciting,” Smyly said. “Baseball season has helped him throughout these past few months, giving him something to do and watch. He loves the game and loves the Braves. We grew up Braves fans so when I signed here this offseason, he was extremely excited. It was pretty cool he finally got to come see a home game.”
Smyly planned to see Todd immediately following his Zoom press conference roughly 20 minutes after the game concluded.
“I know he’s pretty thrilled right now,” Smyly said.
