Jordan Smith (born February 4, 1986) is a former

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

. Smith is , 220 pounds and bats and throws right-handed.

Early life

Smith graduated from Pleasant Grove High School in

Pleasant Grove, Utah Pleasant Grove, originally named Battle Creek, is a city in Utah County, Utah, Utah County, Utah, United States, known as "Utah's City of Trees". It is part of the Provo, Utah, Provo–Orem, Utah, Orem Provo-Orem metropolitan area, Metropoli ...

. He spent one season at

Salt Lake Community College Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a public community college in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is the state's largest two-year college with the most diverse student body. It serves almost 50,000 students on 8 campuses as well as through online ...

, playing mostly as catcher. Due to injuries among SLCC's pitching staff, he was moved to mound and started throwing fastballs in the low 90's (mph). He also played for the

Community College of Southern Nevada The College of Southern Nevada (CSN) is a public community college in Clark County, Nevada. The college has more than 2,500 teaching and non-teaching staff and is the largest public college or university in Nevada. It is part of the Nevada System ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

before his professional career began. Smith's brother is Egan Smith, a left-handed pitcher who was drafted by and signed with 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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

in 2009.

Professional baseball

2006

The Reds selected Smith in the 6th round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft with the 174th overall pick. He was signed by scout Jeff Morris. Smith started his professional career in 2006, playing for

Rookie League Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Billings Billings is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billin ...

. He was a Pioneer League

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

. His 3.01

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

ranked seventh among all Reds minor league pitchers; his six wins was tied for first in the Pioneer League and his ERA was sixth best. Smith did not allow a home run in his first 11 starts (57 innings).

2007

Smith was promoted to Class A

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

in 2007. He was 10–8 in 26 starts for the Dragons, and allowed two earned runs or fewer in 16 of his starts. In a 30 innings stretch from April 27 to May 18, he posted a 0.88 ERA and struck out 23, with a 2–2 record. Smith had eight

quality start In baseball, a quality start (QS) is a statistic for a starting pitcher defined as a game in which the pitcher completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs. The quality start was developed by sportswriter John Lowe in ...

s, allowing 0 runs in four starts combined (27 innings).

2008

Smith split the season with

Class A-Advanced High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Ba ...

and Double-A

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

. In 21 starts combined, he went 9–8 with a 3.84 ERA. His ERA ranked eighth among all Reds minor leaguers. He earned the Reds minor league pitcher of the month for April. Smith was a

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

All-Star while in Sarasota. Over a 24 innings, three start stretch from April 30 to May 2; Smith pitched eight innings or more in all three, allowed three runs, and walked none. He was promoted to Chattanooga on May 25, earning an invitation to the 2009 major league

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

camp.

2009

Smith remained in Double-A (now the

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and play their home games ...

), but only made 13 starts. He made three separate trips to the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

for throwing elbow and left knee injuries, and the elbow kept him out of action for the rest of the season after July 2. He still was a Southern League mid-season All-Star, and pitcher of the week for the week of 5/18 to 5/24. Smith was a

non-roster invitee A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

for big league camp, but was added to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

on November 20, 2009, guaranteeing him an invitation.

Major League Baseball

The Reds signed Smith to a one-year, $400,000 contract on March 3, 2010. Smith was promoted from Carolina to the Cincinnati Reds on June 15. He was optioned to Triple-A

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, but returned to the Reds as a

September call-up A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

. Smith did not make the Reds 25-man post season roster, but is an eligible reserve. In 2 years with the Reds, Smith went 3–2 with a 4.94 ERA with 62 innings and 39 strikeouts in 54 games. On November 3, 2012, Smith signed a minor league deal with the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

with an invitation to spring training. On July 4, 2013, he was released.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jordan 1986 births Living people Cincinnati Reds players Baseball players from Utah Southern Nevada Coyotes baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Sportspeople from American Fork, Utah Billings Mustangs players Dayton Dragons players Sarasota Reds players Chattanooga Lookouts players Carolina Mudcats players Arizona League Reds players Louisville Bats players Salt Lake Bruins baseball players New Orleans Zephyrs players