Gregory Thomas Smith (born December 22, 1983) is a former American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. 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), ...

for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

and the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

Baseball career

Amateur

Smith attended

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, where he played for the

LSU Tigers baseball The LSU Tigers baseball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference. It ranks seventh overall with 18 College World Series appeara ...

team. In 2004, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the Bourne Braves of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. Smith was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the sixth round in the

2005 Major League Baseball Draft The 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best ...

Oakland Athletics

On December 14, 2007, Smith was traded to the Oakland Athletics along with Carlos González,

Brett Anderson Brett Lewis Anderson (born 29 September 1967) is an English singer best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he fronted The Tears with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler in 2004-2 ...

Aaron Cunningham Aaron Roe Ward Cunningham (born April 24, 1986) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He has played in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and Cleveland Indians. Major League Career Cunningham was ...

Dana Eveland Dana James Eveland (born October 29, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, L ...

, and Chris Carter for Dan Haren and Connor Robertson. Smith made his first major league start on April 9, , pitching six innings and allowing two earned runs, and earned a no decision. In the 2008 season, he led the majors in

pickoff In baseball, a pickoff is an act by a pitcher or catcher, throwing a live ball to a fielder so that the fielder can tag out a baserunner who is either leading off or about to begin stealing the next base. A pickoff attempt occurs when this thro ...

s with 15, tying the Major League record since the stat was first tracked in 198

Smith would wind up finishing the season with a 7-16 record in 32 starts for the A's. He threw 190.1 innings while throwing 2 complete games.

Colorado Rockies

On November 12, 2008, Smith was traded with Huston Street and Carlos González to the

for

Matt Holliday Matthew Thomas Holliday (born January 15, 1980) is an American professional baseball coach and former left fielder who is the bench coach for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB from 2004 to 2018 for the Col ...

. Smith missed the first half of the season due to injury and never made it to the major league club during the year. He only pitched in 11 games between A ball and AAA in the Rockies system. In 2010, Smith made it to the club out of spring training. He recorded his first win as a Rocky against the Mets on April 14, pitching 7 innings of 2 run ball. He also drove in 2 runs. Smith would make 6 more starts for the Rockies before being demoted to Triple A. Smith wound up finishing with a record of 1-2 with an ERA of 6.23 in 39 innings. He also issued 24 walks with 31 strikeouts. On April 4, 2011, following spring training, Smith was officially released by the Colorado Rockies organization.

New York Yankees

He signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees on June 13, 2011. He was assigned to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. He was released by the Yankees after posting an ERA of 4.84 in 13 games.

Boston Red Sox

Smith signed with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, and was assigned to the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. Between the Yankees and Red Sox Triple A system, Smith compiled a 5-4 record with a 4.52 ERA in 17 games.

Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim

Smith signed a minor league contract with the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

on February 3, 2012. Despite posting an 11-11 record and having better control throughout the season, Smith never got called up by the Angels.

Toronto Blue Jays

On December 11, 2012, 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 ...

announced that Smith had been signed to a minor league contract. Smith never reported to the Blue Jays AAA system

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 Fiel ...

Philadelphia Phillies

On May 6, 2013, the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

announced that Smith signed to a minor league contract. Smith was moved to the bullpen for the first time in his career. On July 26, Smith threw a season high 101 pitches en route to a win. He improved his record to 5-1 in AAA. Smith won July Honors for the Valley Pigs, going 3-0 with a 1.06 ERA in 5 starts improving his record to 7-2 for the Phillies Triple-A system. He finished the season 8-4 with a 3.31 ERA in 23 games for the Iron Pigs.

Atlanta Braves

On November 7, 2014, Smith signed a minor league deal with 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) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

. They assigned him to the

Gwinnett Braves The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia (with a Lawrencevil ...

. For the 5th season in a row, spent the majority of the season in AAA, alternating between starting and relieving. In 31 games, including 19 starts, Smith posted an ERA of 2.71 while going 6-7.

Lancaster Barnstormers

On March 3, 2016, Smith signed with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

. On March 29, 2016, his contract was sold to the

Lamigo Monkeys The Rakuten Monkeys (), formerly First Financial Holdings Agan (, abbreviated ), La New Bears () and then the Lamigo Monkeys (), are a professional baseball team in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan. Owned and administer ...

Lamigo Monkeys

On March 24, 2016, Smith signed with the

of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

. He became a free agent after the 2016 season.

Scouting report

Smith is a changeup specialist, relying more on off speed pitches and deception rather than velocity. His fastball tops out between 86-88 MPH and he also throws a curveball. One knock on Smith throughout his career has been the walks per nine innings, as he has amassed more than four walks per nine innings.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Greg 1983 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Louisiana Bourne Braves players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Grand Prairie AirHogs players Lamigo Monkeys players Lancaster Barnstormers players Lancaster JetHawks players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players LSU Tigers baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Missoula Osprey players Mobile BayBears players Modesto Nuts players Oakland Athletics players Pawtucket Red Sox players Reading Fightin Phils players Salt Lake Bees players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Sportspeople from Alexandria, Louisiana Sacramento River Cats players Tennessee Smokies players Tucson Sidewinders players Tulsa Drillers players