John Dwight Smith Jr. (born October 26, 1992) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

for the

Charleston Dirty Birds The Charleston Dirty Birds are an American professional baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a partner league of Major League Baseball. The ...

of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. Smith is the son of former MLB player Dwight Smith.

Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

Smith attended

McIntosh High School McIntosh High School is a comprehensive four-year public secondary school located in Peachtree City, Georgia, United States, in Metro Atlanta. As of 2016, it has an enrollment of 1,684 students in grades nine through twelve. The school, governed by ...

and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 1st round (53rd overall) of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

. Smith made his professional baseball debut in 2012 and split the season with the Rookie

Bluefield Blue Jays The Bluefield Blue Jays were a minor league baseball team of the Rookie Appalachian League representing the twin cities of Bluefield, West Virginia, and Bluefield, Virginia. The team played their home games at Bowen Field at Peters Park, a hist ...

and Low-A

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadiu ...

, hitting a combined .212 with 4

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 29

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBI). He spent the 2013 season with the Class-A

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field. The Midwest League came to Lans ...

, where he batted .284 in 109 games, with 7 home runs, 46 RBI, and 25 stolen bases. Smith was promoted to the High-A

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpar ...

for the 2014 season. On April 6, 2014, he hit a pair of solo home runs against

Cole Hamels Colbert Michael Hamels (born December 27, 1983), nicknamed "Hollywood", is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (2006–2015), Texas Rangers ( ...

, the first two home run game of his career. On August 26, the Blue Jays organization announced that Smith would play for the

Mesa Solar Sox The Mesa Solar Sox are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Mesa, Arizona, at Sloan Park, which is also the spring training facility of the Chicago Cubs. The team was established ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

at the completion of the 2014 season. He finished the 2014 season having batted .284 in 121 games played, with 12 home runs and 60 RBI. He stole 15 bases, and posted an OPS over .800 for the first time in his career. On September 24, Smith was named the MVP for Dunedin in 2014. He was promoted to the Double-A

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays major league club. During the team's first seaso ...

at the start of the 2015 season, and played the entire season there, batting .265 with 7 home runs and 44 RBI in 117 games played. Smith was not added to the Blue Jays 40-man roster at the end of the 2015 season, making him eligible for the Rule 5 draft.

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...

columnist Jonathan Mayo named him one of the top available prospects heading into the draft. Smith was invited to Major League spring training on January 12, 2016, and reassigned to minor league camp on March 7. He was assigned to New Hampshire to open the 2016 minor league season. Smith played 126 games for the Fisher Cats in 2016, and hit .265 with a career-high 15 home runs and 74 RBI. He was assigned to the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

to open the 2017 season. On May 18, 2017, Smith was called up by the Blue Jays and made his debut the same day against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

. He went 0–2 with a walk in Toronto's 9–0 win. He was optioned back to Triple-A Buffalo on May 20 and recalled on May 24 after Anthony Alford was placed on the disabled list. Smith recorded the first hit of his career in the Blue Jays 8–4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers that day, and was optioned back to Buffalo following the game. He was recalled on September 4. On March 5, 2019, Smith was designated for assignment.

Baltimore Orioles

On March 9, 2019, Smith was traded to the

in exchange for international pool money. He began the season as the starting left fielder. On May 31, 2019, Smith hit his first career grand slam off

Drew Pomeranz Thomas Andrew "Drew" Pomeranz (born November 22, 1988), nicknamed Big Smooth, is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, ...

as the Orioles won 9–6 over the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

. Smith's season was cut short due to injury, playing in just 101 games. He finished hitting .241 with 13 home runs and 53 runs batted in. In 2020, Smith appeared in 21 games and hit .222/.306/.365 with six runs batted in over 72 plate appearances. He was designated for assignment on August 22, 2020, and became a free agent on November 2.

Cincinnati Reds

On December 7, 2020, Smith signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds organization. He was assigned to the Triple-A Louisville Bats to begin the 2021 season. In 36 games for Louisville, Smith slashed .220/.327/.283 with 1 home run and 17 RBI before being released on June 20, 2021.

Acereros de Monclova

On July 9, 2021, Smith signed with the

Acereros de Monclova The Acereros de Monclova (English: Monclova Steelers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico. Their home ballpark is Estadio de Béisbol Monclova, which has a capacity of 11,000 people. The Ace ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

Chicago White Sox

Smith signed a minor league contract with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

on February 22, 2022. He was released on May 7, 2022.

Acereros de Monclova (second stint)

On May 25, 2022, Smith re-signed with the

of the

. He was released on June 4, 2022.

Lexington Legends

On June 12, 2022, Smith signed with the

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends ha ...

of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Smith played in 12 games for Lexington, hitting .171/.292/.366 with 2 home runs and 7 RBI. He became a free agent after the season.

Charleston Dirty Birds

On April 13, 2023, Smith signed with the

of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Dwight Jr. 1992 births Living people People from Peachtree City, Georgia Sportspeople from Fayette County, Georgia Acereros de Monclova players African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Bluefield Blue Jays players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Dirty Birds players Dunedin Blue Jays players Lansing Lugnuts players Major League Baseball outfielders Mesa Solar Sox players New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Toronto Blue Jays players Vancouver Canadians players Norfolk Tides players Louisville Bats players 21st-century African-American sportspeople