Northwest Intermediate School second-quarter Honor Roll

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Senior living in Hazleton area: Laurels offers three service levels

<p>MOOSIC &#8212; When Caleb Smith was called up to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 13, he didn&#8217;t know what his future would entail.</p><p>For all he knew, he could have been sent back down to Double-A Trenton. But fast-forward 17 days later and the lefty is still with the RailRiders and performing at the top of his game.</p><p>With a 1.20 ERA and a 0.62 WHIP in three starts heading into Sunday&#8217;s start against the Indianapolis Indians, Smith has carved himself a role in the starting rotation.</p><p>&#8220;I feel like I&#8217;m starting to get into a routine,&#8221; Smith said. &#8220;I got the call, came in not knowing how long I&#8217;d be here &#8212; if it was for a spot start or if I was going to be here for a while. I just feel like I kind of made it tough for them to send me back. That was the goal.&#8221;</p><p>The first few days following Smith&#8217;s call-up were rough on the 25-year-old.</p><p>Smith had both his girlfriend and his son in town and not only did he have to balance the uncertainty of his immediate future, but he had to find them a place to stay, too. But with things more stable now, Smith can focus more on the game and can settle in.</p><p>&#8220;I feel like I can just relax and go out and play the game,&#8221; Smith said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve had really good command of my fastball and pretty good command of my off-speed pitches. I&#8217;ve been just letting them put it in play and the defense is making plays behind me.&#8221;</p><p>Smith started out his professional career primarily as a starting pitcher in the lower levels, but last season the 14th-round pick came out of the bullpen often for Trenton. Appearing in 27 games, only seven were starts for the Thunder. Smith even made three saves.</p><p>Back as a starter this season, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders pitching coach Tommy Phelps has been impressed with what he has seen.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s got a really good fastball. He has three really good pitches,&#8221; Phelps said. &#8220;His previous outing he commanded both sides of the plate and pitched in well. He mixed some good sliders in there at times. A little inconsistent, but he&#8217;s shown some quality ones along with his changeup.&#8221;</p><p>He believes that Smith&#8217;s time with the Chicago Cubs big-league camp this spring has been extremely beneficial. The Cubs selected him in the December Rule 5 Draft, but Smith didn&#8217;t make the major league roster and was sent back to the New York Yankees.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sure he&#8217;s got some confidence coming from that, and especially playing with the world champions, but he&#8217;s started a lot in his career,&#8221; Phelps said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not a big transition for him, but just working up and building up. We&#8217;re taking him along slowly to get him built up. But I don&#8217;t think (starting) is a big deal for him because he already has a routine, he already has a process of how he approaches his game and he&#8217;s just going from there.&#8221;</p><p>The trip to the Cubs&#8217; big-league camp was Smith&#8217;s first real taste of major league spring training. While it didn&#8217;t end in the result he had hoped, his stay in Mesa, Ariz. only adds fuel to the fire.</p><p>&#8220;I had a lot of fun,&#8221; Smith said. &#8220;I felt like I had to go over there and just prove myself from the start. I didn&#8217;t have any room to do bad. I had to perform right away, so I think that helped me focus a lot more and I&#8217;ve carried that over to here. I kind of got a taste of it over there and it hasn&#8217;t gone away.&#8221;</p><p>For however long Smith&#8217;s stay with the RailRiders is, he plans on using all of his resources around him to help better his game.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a good experience to be around people who have been in the big leagues, just to watch them &#8212; see how they carry themselves,&#8221; Smith said. &#8220;Just (want) to do the best that I can and give the team the best opportunity I can to win.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting pitcher Caleb Smith is setting into his role with the defending champs. The 25-year-old lefty was called up from Double-A Trenton on April 13. Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RR-LV-1201742717114777.jpg</photo0><caption0>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting pitcher Caleb Smith is setting into his role with the defending champs. The 25-year-old lefty was called up from Double-A Trenton on April 13. Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

SWB RailRiders starter Caleb Smith settling in