Farewell, Carson Smith. We hardly knew ye.
Seriously: The veteran reliever has pitched a grand total of 23.2 innings over 29 outings since joining the Boston Red Sox in 2015. Those numbers are final, as the Red Sox released Smith on Wednesday, according to SoxProspects.com's Chris Hatfield.
The hard-throwing right-hander was billed as Boston's go-to setup man when the Sox acquired him and Roenis Elias from the Seattle Mariners in December 2015 for Wade Miley and Jonathan Aro.
But Smith faced arm trouble out of the gate, suffering a forearm injury in 2016 spring training, then undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery that May.
Smith returned late in the 2017 season and pitched well, posting a 1.35 ERA over eight relief appearances and pitching in two postseason games.
The 29-year-old came into the 2018 campaign healthy but just couldn't find consistency, allowing four earned runs over his first four outings. A May shoulder surgery then sidelined him for the season once again, and he began the 2019 season on the injured list after signing a minor-league deal Triple-A Pawtucket.
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As Hatfield notes, Smith had an opt-out clause in his contract for later this season, but it appears the Red Sox had reached the end of the line with one of their more disappointing acquisitions in recent memory.
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