Josh Harris Smith (born August 7, 1997) 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

for the Texas Rangers of

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). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Amateur career

Smith attended Catholic High School in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

. He was drafted by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in the 38th round of the

2016 MLB draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be d ...

, but did not sign and 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 ...

(LSU), where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the LSU Tigers. He started for the Tigers as a freshman, hitting .281/.407/.409/.816 with 5 home runs and 48 RBI. Smith played in the

Cape Cod 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 ...

in the summer of 2017 for the Harwich Mariners, hitting .382/.478/.513/.991 with 3 home runs and 12 RBI. Smith missed all but six games of his sophomore year due to a stress reaction in his back. He returned as a starter in his junior year, hitting .346/.433/.533/.966 with 9 home runs and 41 RBI.

Professional career

New York Yankees

The

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

selected Smith in the second round, with the 67th overall selection, of the

2019 MLB draft The 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In additi ...

. He signed with New York for a $967,700

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He played for the Staten Island Yankees following his signing, hitting .324/.450/.477/.927 with three

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 15 RBIs over 33 games. He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Smith started the 2021 season with the Tampa Tarpons of Low-A Southeast and was promoted to the Hudson Valley Renegades of High-A East, hitting a combined .324/.448/.641/1.089 with 9 home runs, 24 RBI, and 17 stolen bases.

Texas Rangers

On July 29, 2021, the Yankees traded Smith, along with

Glenn Otto Glenn David Otto Jr. (born March 11, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2021. Amateur career Otto attended Concordia Luther ...

Ezequiel Durán Ezequiel Alberto Durán (born May 22, 1999) is a Dominican professional baseball infielder for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022. Career New York Yankees Durán signed with the New York Yankees as ...

, and

Trevor Hauver Below are select minor league players and the rosters of the minor league affiliates of the Texas Rangers: Players Dane Acker Dane Harrison Acker (born April 1, 1999) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Texas Rangers organizatio ...

, to the Texas Rangers in exchange for

Joey Gallo Joseph Nicholas Gallo (born November 19, 1993) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Do ...

and

Joely Rodríguez Joely Rodríguez Sánchez (born November 14, 1991) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, New York Yanke ...

. He was assigned to the Hickory Crawdads of the High-A East; after nine games with Hickory, the Rangers promoted Smith to the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

of the Double-A Central. Smith spent his 2022 season minor league time with the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

of the Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, hitting .290/.395/.466/.861 6 home runs, 45 RBI, and 9 stolen bases over 55 games. On May 30, 2022, Texas selected Smith's contract and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut that night versus the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

. He recorded his first career hit, a single off

Drew Rasmussen Drew Thomas Rasmussen (born July 27, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers, for whom he made his MLB debut in 2020. Amateur career ...

, and finished the game with three hits. Smith was placed on the

injured 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 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

with a sprained left

AC joint The acromioclavicular joint, or AC joint, is a joint at the top of the shoulder. It is the junction between the acromion (part of the scapula that forms the highest point of the shoulder) and the clavicle. It is a plane synovial joint. Structure ...

on June 4. On July 11, 2022, Smith hit an inside-the-park home run against 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 ...

, the first home run of his career. Over 73 games for Texas in 2022, Smith hit .197/.307/.249/.556 with 2 home runs and 16 RBI.

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Josh 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baseball players from Louisiana Major League Baseball infielders Texas Rangers players LSU Tigers baseball players Danville Dans players Harwich Mariners players Staten Island Yankees players Tampa Tarpons players Hudson Valley Renegades players Hickory Crawdads players Frisco RoughRiders players Round Rock Express players