Where was this Will Smith for the Atlanta Braves all along?

All of a sudden, the Atlanta Braves have a premier closer.

Many people in the Atlanta Braves organization have to be wondering where in the world this Will Smith has been hiding all along?

The bottom line is it does not really matter.

The truth of the matter is that Will Smith did not have as brutal as a year as many people would lead you on to believe. Sure, it never felt easy and it was always a hair-raising situation when Will Smith came in.

Yet, he still found a way to close out 37 games for these Atlanta Braves and averaged more than a strikeout per inning. He also found a way to record an ERA of 3.44.

Was he an “elite” closer this year? No way. But he was good enough for the Atlanta Braves and yet here in October, he has found a way to become electric at just the right time for the Atlanta Braves.

I’ll bet many people did not realize that Will Smith only allowed 2 earned runs over his last 13 regular-season outings. Smith also has not allowed multiple runs in an outing since August 11th when he did so against the Reds.

Granted, it did seem the home run ball was happening too much this year, as you never want your closer to give up 11 home runs over the course of the year.

But give credit to Brian Snitker and the Atlanta Braves staff:  for better or worse, they put faith in Smith and let him keep going out there to close games night after night.

That tactic seems to be paying dividends now as well as he is carving up batters so far throughout the postseason.

The hometown kid from Newnan seems to have found what made him so successful in San Francisco and has brought that to Atlanta at the perfect time for the Atlanta Braves.

Here’s to hoping he can keep doing what he has done and has the opportunity.

And if it still bothers you that he might pitch, consider this, if he is coming in to pitch over this next week or so, it means that the Atlanta Braves most likely have a lead in the World Series.