Joshua Michael Smoker (born November 26, 1988) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

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

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, and

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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

Early life

Smoker was born in

Calhoun, Georgia Calhoun is a city in Gordon County, Georgia, Gordon County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,949. Calhoun is the county seat of Gordon County. Histor ...

to Mike, an engineer, and Debbie Smoker. As a child, he was an

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

fan and dirt track racer. In 2007, Smoker was rated the eleventh best draft-eligible pitching prospect by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

''. As a high school senior, he was named

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys football, boys and girl ...

for Georgia after finishing with a 1.24

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

and 152 strikeouts over 73 innings pitched. He initially committed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for Clemson.

Professional career

Washington Nationals

Smoker was drafted by the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

in the first round of the

2007 Major League Baseball draft The 2007 Major League Baseball draft, was an annual choosing of high school and college baseball players, held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the first 25 rounds and was scheduled to be broadcast "l ...

out of Calhoun High School in

. In 2008, he underwent surgery on a

bone spur An exostosis, also known as a osteochondroma, is a benign chondrogenic lesions derived from aberrant cartilage from the perichondral ring. Exostoses can cause chronic pain ranging from mild to moderate, but rarely severe, depending on the shape, s ...

in his shoulder. In 2013, Dr. James Andrews performed surgery on Smoker to repair a torn

rotator cuff The rotator cuff (SITS muscles) is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles a ...

and labrum. With his

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

velocity declining, the Nationals organization released him without him ever having played higher than

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 ...

Rockford Aviators

After sitting out 2013 while recovering from surgery, Smoker played for the

Rockford Aviators The Rockford Aviators were a professional baseball team based in Rockford, Illinois that played in the independent Frontier League. Rockford previously had a team in the Frontier League called the RiverHawks (2002-2009). There was no Rockford tea ...

of the

Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

in 2014.

New York Mets

In 2015, he signed with the

. Smoker was promoted to the Major Leagues on August 19, 2016, and made his debut that day. He picked up his first Major League

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on August 29 after pitching a scoreless tenth inning against 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 ...

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball park, baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the Boroughs of New York, borough of Queens, New York City, United States. Opened in 2009, Citi Field is the home of Major League Baseball's New York M ...

. In 2017, Smoker was named to his first ever

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster. He was designated for assignment on January 26, 2018.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On January 31, Smoker was traded to the

for

Daniel Zamora Daniel James Zamora (born April 15, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. Zamora played college baseball for the Stony Brook Seawolves and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ...

and cash considerations. Smoker was designated for assignment on July 23, 2018.

Detroit Tigers

On July 28, 2018, Smoker was claimed off waivers by the

. He was assigned to the Tigers' Triple-A affiliate, the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

. On August 26, 2018, the Tigers called up Smoker and he made his Tigers debut. On September 6, 2018, the Tigers released Smoker.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On October 10, 2018, Smoker signed a minor league deal with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. He was assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City to start the 2019 season. He was released on May 7, 2019.

York Revolution

August 9, 2019, Smoker signed with the

York Revolution The York Revolution is an American professional minor-league baseball team based in York, Pennsylvania. It is a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Basebal ...

of the

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

. He became a free agent following the 2019 season. On April 6, 2020, he re-signed with the Revolution for the 2020 season. Smoker did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the ALPB season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and became a free agent after the year.

Personal life

Smoker married his high school sweetheart, Nicole, in December 2014.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smoker, Josh 1988 births Living people People from Calhoun, Georgia Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players Pittsburgh Pirates players Detroit Tigers players Vermont Lake Monsters players Gulf Coast Nationals players Hagerstown Suns players Potomac Nationals players Savannah Sand Gnats players St. Lucie Mets players Binghamton Mets players Las Vegas 51s players Binghamton Rumble Ponies players Rockford Aviators players Indianapolis Indians players Toledo Mud Hens players Oklahoma City Dodgers players York Revolution players Calhoun High School alumni