Mets manager Buck Showalter first learned about reliever Drew Smith from son

While Friday's game at the rival Philadelphia Phillies was rained out in the early afternoon hours, the New York Mets nevertheless have multiple reasons to smile ahead of the weekend. New York rallied back from a 7-1 ninth-inning deficit to defeat the Phillies on Thursday night, and the Mets are now 19-9 overall and comfortably atop the National League East standings. 

As Mike Puma explained for the New York Post, right-handed relief pitcher Drew Smith has been one of several bright spots in the Mets bullpen over the first month of the season. Smith has thus far pitched 11.1 innings of scoreless baseball and has matched 15 strikeouts with only four hits allowed. 

Manager Buck Showalter only officially joined the Mets in December but recently explained that a report from former Baltimore Orioles scout Nathan Showalter, Buck's son, told the skipper plenty about Smith. 

"He’s as good as I thought," Showalter said of the 28-year-old, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, while noting that Nathan scouted Smith when the righty was a college sophomore with the Dallas Baptist Patriots. 

"As soon as I got the job, he said, 'Drew Smith. Drew Smith. Drew Smith — he’s got it,'" Buck said of a conversation he had with Nathan. 

Thus far, Nathan's assessment has been spot-on.