Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

The Detroit Tigers have high hopes for former Little Rock Central and Arkansas Razorbacks ace Drew Smyly and the left-hander didn’t disappoint in his major league debut Thursday.

Smyly pitched 4 innings with 4 hits, 4 strikeouts and 3 walks as Detroit beat Tampa Bay 7-2 at Comerica Park. Smyly’s first career strikeout came in the first inning as he got Ben Zobrist swinging while the biggest blot on his day was a third-inning home run by Carlos Pena that opened the scoring.

While Smyly left with a 1-0 deficit, giving way to Collin Balestar after facing one batter in the fifth, his teammates picked him up with three runs in the fifth and two each in their last two at-bats.

Smyly, 6-3, 190 pounds, was a second-round draft pick by Detroit in 2010 after being named second-team All-SEC as a sophomore at Arkansas. He was a non-roster invitee to spring training this year but went 1-0 with a 4.00 ERA in 18 spring innings to win the fifth starter’s job with the Tigers.

Smyly, 23, posted a 10-3 record and 2.27 ERA in two minor league stops last year, his first pro season. In a minor league tuneup this year he made an appearance with Class AAA Toledo and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits in 1 2/3 innings and left with a 16.20 ERA.

If Thursday was an indication, his Major League Baseball numbers should be a little better.