Rodney Chad Smith (born June 8, 1995) 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 professiona ...

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 dr ...

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 t ...

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 (A ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022 with 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 Fi ...

Career

Smith graduated from

McAdory High School McAdory High School (MHS) is a four-year public high school in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of McCalla. It is one of fourteen high schools in the Jefferson County School System and was named for early local educator Isaac McAdory. School colors ...

McCalla, Alabama McCalla (sometimes misspelled Mc Calla) is a census-designated place in Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties, Alabama, United States, southwest of Bessemer and the geographic terminus of the Appalachian Mountains. The community is named for Richar ...

. He enrolled at

Wallace State Community College Wallace State Community College (formally George C Wallace State Community College) is a public community college in Hanceville, Alabama. Founded in 1966 as the George C. Wallace State Trade School of Cullman County, the college currently enro ...

, 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 two years. 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 F ...

selected him in the 23rd round of the

2015 MLB draft Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

. He did not sign with Cleveland, and transferred to the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

, where he played college baseball for the

Ole Miss Rebels The Ole Miss Rebels are the 18 men's and women's intercollegiate athletic teams that are funded by and represent the University of Mississippi, located in Oxford. The first was the football team, which began play in 1893. Originally known as th ...

Miami Marlins

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 (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

selected Smith in the 11th 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 ...

, and Smith signed with the Marlins.

Colorado Rockies

On August 13, 2020, the Marlins traded Smith to the

for Jesús Tinoco. The Rockies promoted Smith to the major leagues on May 28, 2022. He made his major league debut on May 29.

Oakland Athletics

On December 6, 2022, the Rockies traded Smith to the

for minor-league pitcher

Jeff Criswell Jeffrey L. Criswell (born March 7, 1964) is a former American football offensive lineman who played twelve professional seasons in the National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football leag ...

Personal life

His grandfather,

Norm Zauchin Norbert Henry Zauchin (November 17, 1929 – January 31, 1999) was a professional baseball first baseman. He played all or part of six seasons in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox (1951, 1955–57) and Washington Senators (1958–59). ...

, played in MLB in the 1950s.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Chad 1995 births Living people People from McCalla, Alabama Baseball players from Alabama Major League Baseball pitchers Colorado Rockies players Wallace State Lions baseball players Ole Miss Rebels baseball players Gulf Coast Marlins players Batavia Muckdogs players Greensboro Grasshoppers players Jupiter Hammerheads players Salt River Rafters players Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp players Albuquerque Isotopes players