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<p>At the end of the day, Caleb Smith&#8217;s performance in Wednesday&#8217;s Triple-A All-Star Game, one he took the loss in, wasn&#8217;t the result he was looking for.</p><p>But the fact he got to pitch in the all-star game in the first place, and for his manager, Al Pedrique, no less, was good enough.</p><p>All things considered, Smith&#8217;s first appearance in an all-star game &#8212; is the cherry on top of an impressive first half for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders ace.</p><p>Smith was selected in December&#8217;s Rule 5 Draft by the Chicago Cubs. He was then sent back to the New York Yankees toward the end of spring training and started the season in Double-A Trenton&#8217;s bullpen.</p><p>He was called up to Triple-A for a spot start in April and has stuck. Sixteen starts later, Smith is 8-0 and sports the best record in all of Triple-A.</p><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t think I was going to know anybody there or talk to anybody there really, but (RailRiders manager Al Pedrique&#8217;s) going so it&#8217;s going to be awesome,&#8221; Smith said. &#8220;(The season&#8217;s) been really good. Obviously I&#8217;ve been throwing the ball well. I&#8217;m just trying to keep it rolling and trying to keep winning games for the team.&#8221;</p><p>Smith credits three areas of his &#8212; and his teammates&#8217; &#8212; game to his success in the first three months of the season. The left-hander&#8217;s not afraid to throw strikes, and has been able to throw them when he wants to, has cut back on walks and the defense has been spectacular behind him.</p><p>When Smith first joined the RailRiders for his spot start on April 13, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitching coach Tommy Phelps wasn&#8217;t quite sure what to expect from the then-Double-A reliever.</p><p>&#8220;Originally it was going to be a spot-start situation, maybe a few starts, and he&#8217;s stepped in, done a nice job,&#8221; Phelps said. &#8220;He&#8217;s been able to pitch in and out with his fastball, been able to command his fastball and use his off-speed pitches to keep guys off balance. That sounds basic, but he&#8217;s been able to execute his pitches and he has good stuff, and that gets good results.&#8221;</p><p>Smith has also impressed Pedrique, who credits his pitcher&#8217;s work ethic and the ability to trust in his skills, as to why Smith has been able to have a career-season.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what you have to do as a player. When you get the chance you have to be ready, perform, put up the numbers and that&#8217;s what he&#8217;s done,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;He got the opportunity and he took advantage. That&#8217;s why he&#8217;s having a great year. He deserves all the credit.&#8221;</p><p>If there&#8217;s one thing that&#8217;s going to slow Smith down moving forward, it isn&#8217;t going to be his ability on the mound.</p><p>Pedrique mentioned a pitch limit for Smith after his last appearance on July 4 against Buffalo. Smith went just five innings, throwing just 74 pitches.</p><p>It was the first time the 25-year-old hadn&#8217;t eclipsed 84 since April 30. The skipper said the key is for Smith to stay healthy and keep the pitch count low.</p><p>Smith pitched just 63.2 innings last season and is already at 89.2 innings, which is more than halfway to his career-high of 135 in 2015.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t really pay attention to my innings or innings limit. I go off the way my body feels really,&#8221; Smith said. &#8220;Innings don&#8217;t affect me right now. I feel like I could throw 200 innings this year. It&#8217;s just how my body feels, but they have their plans and what they what to do, and I just have to respect that.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Caleb Smith had quite the first half. Starting the season with Double-A Trenton, he pitched the fourth inning of the Triple-A All-Star Game on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_rr_4j2_faa-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Caleb Smith had quite the first half. Starting the season with Double-A Trenton, he pitched the fourth inning of the Triple-A All-Star Game on Wednesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader </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>

RailRiders Weekend Feature: Triple-A All-Star Game caps off strong first half for Caleb Smith