Ryan Rowland-Smith
Ryan Benjamin Rowland-Smith is an Australian former professional baseball pitcher and current television broadcaster for the Seattle Mariners. He debuted in Major League Baseball for the Mariners in 2007 and pitched with the team through 2010. He briefly pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014. Rowland-Smith also represented Australia in the 2004 Summer Olympics and three World Baseball Classic tournaments.
Born in Sydney, Rowland-Smith grew up watching MLB games on videocassette. Signed out of high school by the Mariners, he spent the next several years pitching for their minor league teams. Promoted to Seattle for the first time in June 2007, he struck out the first batter he faced, former Mariners' star Ken Griffey Jr. Rowland-Smith began 2008 as a relief pitcher for the Mariners but converted into a starting pitcher in August, pitching in the starting rotation the rest of the year. After his first start in 2009, he went on the disabled list with triceps tendinitis. Rejoining the Mariners in July, he completed the eighth inning in three of his remaining starts for Seattle. In 2010, he made a career-high 20 starts for the Mariners but posted a 1–10 record and a 6.75 earned run average. Seattle did not offer him a contract after the season.
Over the next three seasons, Rowland-Smith pitched in the minor leagues for several teams. In 2014, he began the season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, much to his excitement as the Diamondbacks were opening the 2014 season in Australia. His time with the Diamondbacks did not last long, as the team designated him for assignment on 18 April. Rowland-Smith pitched for some minor league teams the remainder of the year, then joined the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2015. He pitched for the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League in January 2017, then retired after the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Early life
Rowland-Smith was born 26 January 1983, in Sydney, Australia. His father is Australian celebrity trainer Rob Rowland-Smith, known as "The Sandhill Warrior," and his mother is a retired high school physical education teacher. Ryan was their third child and had two older sisters. His parents divorced when Ryan was three, and Rowland-Smith grew up with his mother and sisters in Newcastle, New South Wales. He was a baseball fan from childhood, primarily watching video cassettes of the 1992 and 1993 World Series because Major League Baseball was not televised in Australia at the time. Rowland-Smith started playing baseball himself at the age of 12. He graduated from Newcastle High School in December 2000. The Seattle Mariners, one of the only Major League Baseball teams that scouted Australia at the time, signed Rowland-Smith as a free agent on 19 November 2000. "I signed it before the ink dried," Rowland-Smith said of his contract. "It was the only opportunity I was going to get."Career
2001–04 seasons
Rowland-Smith began his pro career in 2001 with the Rookie level Arizona League Mariners. In 17 relief appearances, he allowed just one home run in innings pitched. He split the 2002 season between the Single-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and the Short Season-A Everett AquaSox. With Wisconsin to begin the season, he appeared in 12 games, posting a 1–2 record and a 6.75 earned run average. In the middle of the season, he was demoted to Everett. He appeared in 18 games with Everett, posting a 4–1 record, a 2.77 ERA, 58 strikeouts, and 58 hits allowed in innings pitched.In 2003, Rowland-Smith pitched for Wisconsin again, appearing in 13 games. He had a 3–0 record, a 1.11 ERA, and 37 strikeouts in innings. During the year, he also pitched for the Class-A Advanced Inland Empire 66ers. In 15 games with the 66ers, he lost one game, posted a 3.20 ERA, struck out 15, and allowed 12 hits over innings pitched. He had a 1.90 ERA and 52 strikeouts combined between Wisconsin and Inland Empire. Rowland-Smith played the entire 2004 season with Inland Empire, appearing in 29 games. He split the season between the bullpen and the starting rotation, going 5–3 with a 3.79 ERA as a starter. He struck out 119 batters in 99 innings and held opponents to a.276 batting average.
2005 season
The Minnesota Twins selected Rowland-Smith in the major league phase of the 2004 Rule 5 draft. On 4 March, the Twins signed him to a one-year contract. He spent most of 2005 spring training with the Twins. Ultimately, Minnesota decided not to keep him on the roster all season, and he was returned to Seattle on 25 March. He spent the season with the Double-A San Antonio Missions, setting a career high with 122 innings pitched. In 33 games, he had a 6–7 record, a 4.35 ERA, 102 strikeouts, and 133 hits allowed.2006 season
Rowland-Smith split the 2006 season with Inland Empire and San Antonio. With the 66ers, he gave up seven runs in innings pitched over seven games. He spent a greater portion of the season with the Missions. On 25 August, he struck out a season-high seven batters in innings. In 23 games for the Missions, he had a 1–3 record, a 2.83 ERA, 48 strikeouts, and 38 hits allowed in innings. Following the regular season, he played with the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League.2007 season
For the first time in 2007, Rowland-Smith pitched for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League. He made 25 relief appearances for the team, posting a 3–4 record, a 3.67 ERA, 50 strikeouts, and 35 hits allowed in innings before getting promoted to the Mariners in June. Rowland-Smith made his major league debut for the Mariners on 22 June, against the Cincinnati Reds in a game notable for being the return of longtime Mariners star Ken Griffey Jr. to Safeco Field. Griffey was the first batter Rowland-Smith faced; Rowland-Smith struck the future Hall of Famer out, proceeding to pitch 1 scoreless innings in a blowout 16–1 Mariners loss. He did not allow a run in consecutive innings spanning five games from 22 to 31 August. In the first game of that stretch, he struck out six batters in four scoreless innings of relief in an 8–4 loss to the Twins. He earned his first career win 13 September against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, pitching scoreless innings in a game the Mariners trailed 7–1 but rallied to win 8–7. In his first year with Seattle, he struck out 42 batters in 38 innings, posting a 1–0 record and limiting opposing batters to 39 hits. After the season, he pitched for Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League. Rowland-Smith said about his offseason:2008 season
Rowland-Smith began the season exclusively as a reliever, making 32 relief appearances before making two starts prior to the All-Star break. He collected his first save on 8 April against the Tampa Bay Rays in Seattle's 6–5 win, tossing innings and retiring all five batters he faced while protecting one-run lead. His first major league start came 1 July against the Toronto Blue Jays; Rowland-Smith threw three scoreless innings before getting replaced by Roy Corcoran with two outs in the fourth inning after allowing three runs that inning. The Mariners rallied to win 7–6. He made three more relief appearances before being optioned to Tacoma on 20 July to be converted to a starting pitcher. He went 2–0 with a 2.89 ERA in three starts for the Rainiers, holding opponents to a.185 batting average before joining Seattle's rotation on 9 August. From 21 August until the end of the season, he posted a 2.56 ERA. Against the Oakland Athletics on 21 August, he took the loss but held the team to four hits in seven innings, only allowing a solo home run to Emil Brown. He faced Oakland again in his final start of the year on 27 September, allowing three runs in innings this time but picking up the win in a 7–3 victory. In 47 games with the Mariners in 2008, he had a 5–3 record, a 3.42 ERA, 77 strikeouts, and 114 hits allowed in innings.2009 season
In a 2009 spring training game against the Colorado Rockies, Rowland-Smith hit two singles in two at bats. This was his first time batting against a live pitcher since he was 17 years old. He used teammate Jeff Clement's bat.At the beginning of the season, Rowland-Smith started one game before being placed on the disabled list with triceps tendinitis. He was sent to Tacoma for rehab starts, but a dismal outing on 5 June in which he allowed 12 runs in innings prompted the Mariners to option him to Tacoma. In July, he was promoted and added to the starting rotation after going 5–3 with a 4.31 ERA in 10 starts for Tacoma. He pitched seven innings in his first start back on 24 July, allowing four runs and taking the loss in a 9–0 defeat to the Cleveland Indians. Five days later, he limited the Toronto Blue Jays to two runs over seven innings and picked up his first win of the year in the Mariners' 3–2 victory. Three times in 2009, he threw a season-high eight innings, including a game on 16 September, when he limited the Chicago White Sox to one run in a 4–1 victory. Rowland-Smith made his last start of the year for the Mariners on 3 October, holding the Texas Rangers to one run over innings in a 2–1 victory.
Rowland-Smith finished the season with a 5–4 record, a 3.74 ERA, 52 strikeouts, and 87 hits allowed in innings over 15 games.
2010 season
Rowland-Smith's game against the White Sox on 16 September 2009, left Christian Caple of MLB.com excited about his chances for next season:In fact, Rowland-Smith started the 2010 season as the third starter in the Mariners' rotation, behind Felix Hernandez and Ian Snell. He struggled to begin the season, posting a 7.62 ERA in his first eight starts while losing all four of his decisions. After the shortest start of his career on 18 May, in which he gave up seven runs in innings, the Mariners moved him to the bullpen. Rowland-Smith returned to the rotation on 5 June, when Doug Fister had to miss a start because of shoulder fatigue. The Mariners lost to the Angels 11–2, but Rowland-Smith limited the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to one run in five innings. After that, he continued to be used as a starter. He held Cincinnati scoreless for six innings on 20 June, earning his first win of the year in a 1–0 victory. The win, however, would be his only victory of the year. On 27 July, he gave up 11 runs over five innings in an 11–0 loss to the White Sox. The Mariners left him in the game that long because they wanted to preserve their bullpen. After the game, he was placed on the disabled list with a lower back strain, which Rob Neyer of ESPN speculated was a "phantom injury" designed to get him off the roster, since the Mariners could not send him to the minor leagues without exposing him to waivers. After a rehab stint in Tacoma, he rejoined the team in September when rosters expanded.
Upon his activation from the disabled list, Rowland-Smith was mainly used out of the bullpen, except for the last game of the season, 3 October, in which he gave up two runs in five innings and had a no-decision in a 4–3 loss to the Athletics. 20 of Rowland-Smith's 27 appearances in 2010 were starts, but only one of those was a win, as opposed to ten losses. He had a 6.75 ERA and gave up 141 hits in innings.
Rowland-Smith was the Mariners' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to the MLB player who "best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field." Seattle made him their candidate because of his work in hosting the Mariners Care Cystic Fibrosis Foundation golf tournament. In November 2010, the Sydney Blue Sox named Rowland-Smith as one of the players on their 35-man roster for the inaugural Australian Baseball League season, but he never pitched for them. On 2 December 2010, the Mariners non-tendered Rowland-Smith, making him a free agent.