Burch Taylor Smith (born April 12, 1990) 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 ...

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 ...

for the

Hanwha Eagles The Hanwha Eagles ( ko, 한화 이글스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Daejeon. They are a member of the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium. The Eagles have won the Korean Series on ...

of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Smith was drafted by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

in the 11th round 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 ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2013. He previously 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 San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers,

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 ...

, and Oakland Athletics and in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB) for the

Saitama Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway ...

Amateur career

Smith attended Robert E. Lee High School in

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

. Pitching for the baseball team, in his high school career he was 11–3 with a 1.68 ERA and 153 strikeouts in 150 innings. At

Howard College Howard College is a community college in the U.S. state of Texas with its main campus in Big Spring and branch campuses in San Angelo and Lamesa. History Howard County Junior College was established in Big Spring in 1945. 148 students be ...

, Smith's team was the 2009 NCJAA National Champion as he was 4–0 with a 3.05 ERA, and he was named the 2010

Western Junior College Athletic Conference The Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) is a junior college athletic conference for many technical and community colleges within the Southwest states of Texas and New Mexico, sponsored by the National Junior College Athletic Associa ...

Pitcher of the Year, after going 11–2 with a 2.50 ERA. Smith was drafted by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

in the 49th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft and the 20th round of the

2010 Major League Baseball draft The 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team pi ...

out of Howard, but did not sign either time. He then attended the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

as a junior, going 10–4, and was 2011 All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

honorable mention.

Professional career

San Diego Padres

The

selected Smith in the 11th round of the

; he signed for a signing bonus of $250,000. Pitching for the Class A Advanced

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park s ...

in 2012, Smith went 9–6 with a 3.85

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 ...

and 137

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

. He started the 2013 season with the Double-A San Antonio Missions. He was named the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

Pitcher of the Week in April 2013, and the Padres Minor League Pitcher of the Month for April with a 1.38 ERA over five starts. Smith made his Major League debut Saturday, May 11, 2013, against 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) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

as he was called up from Double-A. In his Major League debut, Smith pitched a clean first inning, striking out his first two batters, but he did not record an out in the second, giving up six earned runs on five hits. He was sent down to the

Tucson Padres The Tucson Padres were a minor league baseball team representing Tucson, Arizona in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). They were the Triple-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The team moved to Tucson from Portland, Oregon for the 2011 season. I ...

of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL) on May 22 after allowing 15 earned runs in three starts. He was recalled on June 8, but did not make an appearance before he was optioned back to Tucson on June 10. He came back to the Major League club on June 28 after posting a 2.54 ERA in five starts overall with Tucson. Smith joined the bullpen where he made three appearances before being sent down again on July 5. Smith made seven more starts for Tucson, striking out 10 in his final appearance, and then returned to the Padres' rotation with the September roster expansion. He made four more starts for the Padres in 2013, allowing 10 runs with 31 strikeouts.

Tampa Bay Rays

On December 19, 2014, the Padres traded Smith,

Jake Bauers Jakob Christopher Bauers (born October 6, 1995) is an American professional baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter in the New York Yankees organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleve ...

, and René Rivera to the

in a three-team trade that saw the Rays trade

Wil Myers William Bradford Myers (born December 10, 1990) is an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padre ...

, Jose Castillo and

Ryan Hanigan Ryan Michael Hanigan (born August 16, 1980) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, and Colorado Rockies. After graduating from And ...

to the Padres, the Padres trade Joe Ross and a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

to the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

, and Washington trade

Steven Souza Steven Jeffrey Souza Jr. (born April 24, 1989) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodg ...

and Travis Ott to Tampa Bay. Smith missed the 2015 season after having Tommy John surgery. Smith was outrighted following the 2015 season.

Kansas City Royals

The

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

selected Smith in the Rule 5 draft on December 14, 2017, and immediately traded him to the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations. After a strong spring training, Smith was chosen as a member of the bullpen for Opening Day. In 2018 with Kansas City he was 1–6 with a 6.92 ERA in 38 games (6 starts), in which he pitched 78 innings. On November 26, 2018, Smith was designated for assignment.

Milwaukee Brewers

On January 11, 2019, Smith signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was assigned to the San Antonio Missions of the PCL to start the 2019 season, for whom he was 6–3 with a 2.33 ERA in 15 starts, in which he pitched innings and struck out 85 batters. He had his contract selected to the major leagues on May 5. With the Brewers, he was 0–1 with a 7.82 ERA in innings. On August 9, Smith was designated for assignment.

San Francisco Giants

On August 12, 2019, Smith was claimed off waivers by the

. With the

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 ...

of the PCL, he was 1–1 with a 4.20 ERA in 15 innings in which he struck out 18 batters. With the Giants, he was 0–0 with a 2.08 ERA in eight innings. Smith was designated for assignment by the Giants on February 10, 2020.

Oakland Athletics

On February 15, 2020, the Giants traded Smith to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for cash considerations. This trade was the first swap involving a major league player between the Bay Area rivals since December 4, 1990, when the Athletics acquired

Ernest Riles Ernest Riles (born October 2, 1960) is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman. From 1985 through 1993, Riles played for the Milwaukee Brewers (1985–1988), San Francisco Giants (1988–1990), Oakland Athletics (1991 ...

from the Giants for

Darren Lewis Darren Joel Lewis (born August 28, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player who played center field in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics (1990), San Francisco Giants (1991–1995), Cincinnati Reds (1995), C ...

and minor league starting pitcher Pedro Pena. Smith picked up wins in his first two appearances for the Athletics, in which he allowed two hits and a walk in three scoreless innings combined. He was credited with his first career save on August 7, 2020, by throwing the last three innings of a 7–2 win over the Houston Astros, during which he allowed only one hit and no runs. On August 17, Smith was placed on the 10-day injured list with a forearm strain, two days after surrendering his first runs of the season to his former team, the Giants, on a three-run home run. In 6 games for the A's, Smith registered an ERA of 2.25 in 12 innings. Smith pitched in 31 games for Oakland in 2021, going 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA and 28 strikeouts. On September 14, 2021, the A's designated Smith for assignment. On October 12, Smith elected free agency.

Saitama Seibu Lions

On January 18, 2022, Smith signed with the

(NPB).

Hanwha Eagles

On December 18, 2022, Smith signed with the

of the Korea Baseball Organization. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/kbos-hanwha-eagles-sign-burch-smith.html

References

External links

Oklahoma Sooners bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Burch 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Tyler, Texas Baseball players from Texas Major League Baseball pitchers San Diego Padres players Kansas City Royals players Milwaukee Brewers players San Francisco Giants players Oakland Athletics players Howard Hawks baseball players Oklahoma Sooners baseball players Arizona League Padres players Lake Elsinore Storm players San Antonio Missions players Tucson Padres players El Paso Chihuahuas players Surprise Saguaros players Gulf Coast Rays players Charlotte Stone Crabs players Durham Bulls players Sacramento River Cats players Las Vegas Aviators players category:Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers category:Saitama Seibu Lions players