Q&A with Iona Pitcher Brendan Smith

1. Brendan did you always want to play college baseball? What got you into the sport?

I first got into baseball because my dad is a huge baseball fan. I used to sit on the couch with him when I was very young and watch the Yankees on tv. When I was four, he took me to my first game. As for playing in college, as soon as I found out what college was, I knew I wanted to play baseball when I went.

2. What is your best baseball memory prior to college?

My favorite baseball memory before college is seeing Alex Rodriguez get his 3,000th hit against Justin Verlander. I sat in the left field bleachers with three of my friends for the game that night.

3. What lead to your decision to leave Albany and come to Iona to finish your collegiate career?

After getting surgery I thought it would be best to explore every option possible for my grad year so I entered the portal. Iona had the ideal program for me, and it was so close to home that I was able to commute, which saved my family money. Additionally, our head coach Paul Panik was my pitching coach for a season and Albany, and our pitching JT Genovese was a teammate of mine in high school and at Albany. The connections I have with those two made coming to an Iona an easy choice for me.

4. Tommy John is a common procedure for baseball players. Talk a little bit about your injury and the process of recovery and return to pitching.

I was in a bit of a unique situation with my injury. The original injury happened in the summer before my senior year of high school, and after going through the rehab process, I continued to play baseball without any issues. However, because I did not get surgery right away, my elbow continued to tear and eventually forced me to get surgery in March 2019. From there, it was a long road back. I spent three months in a brace and it took me six months to be able to throw a baseball again. Thankfully, I am ahead of schedule and will be good to go for this upcoming season.

5. You have unique delivery on the mound. Talk a little bit about how you came to adopt that style of pitching.

Before I got injured, I threw pretty normal, but because of the damage my elbow suffered, the least painful way to throw was sidearm. At first, I struggled with it, but thankfully I had a great pitching coach named Anthony Yacco who helped me find my ideal arm angle.

6. What are some of your individual goals as well as team goals this upcoming season?

Individually, I want to have an ERA below 3.00, as well as more than 50 strikeouts. As a team, our goal is to win the first MAAC Championship since 1992.

7. I know that you have been playing baseball your whole life. With you being a pitcher, I imagine you do not get to swing the bat much anymore. Do you miss hitting? Can you still swing it?

I absolutely miss hitting! There is no way that I would be able to hit against any of the pitching we would be facing, but I had a decent high school career at the plate.

8. You are a diehard Yankees fan. Talk a little about you excitement level for this upcoming season with the addition of Garrett Cole. Is it World Series or bust?

This is the most excited I have been for an upcoming Yankees’ season ever. Gerrit Cole is the best offseason addition for the Yankees since the 2008-2009 offseason when they added CC Sabathia, Mark Teixiera and AJ Burnett. I think that this year is World Series or bust because of the big-spenidng.

9. What is your opinion on the Astros cheating scandal? Did the punishment fit the crime?

Unfortunately I think that this is an extremely common thing in baseball because of the advances of technology. While the Astros may be the only team caught, I’m sure other teams have other sorts of systems to steal signs. I think that because Rob Manfred did not want to punish any of the players, the punishment will not be able to fit the crimes. We will never truly know the impact that this scandal had on opposing player’s careers.

10. I know you are not the biggest NBA guy but talk a little about Kobe. What kind of emotions did the news of his death bring you?

I was in complete shock when the news came across my Twitter. I always admired Kobe as a competitor and athlete, and I think that because of how dominant he was, we almost saw him as invincible.

-Taylor McHugh