Chad Dennis Smith (born October 2, 1989) is a former 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 ...

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 ...

. He previously played

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

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 ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Smith attended Thousand Oaks High School, in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...

, where he had an 8–1

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

with a 2.00

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 ...

(ERA),

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

65 batters in 60

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

, earning ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''Dai ...

'', '' Ventura County Star'', and All- Marmonte League first team honors his senior year. Smith was a member of the Marmonte League champions in his junior and senior seasons.Chad Smith Bio
June 18, 2014 During the summer of 2008, he pitched for the

Wenatchee AppleSox The Wenatchee AppleSox is a collegiate summer baseball team playing in the West Coast League's North Division. The team is based in Wenatchee, Washington. The team was established in 2000 by owner Jim Corcoran and has played its home games at Pau ...

of the

West Coast League The West Coast League (WCL) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta. The WCL was previously named the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCB ...

, where he was 1–2 with a 3.96 ERA in 13 games.

College career

Smith was undrafted out of high school and went on to attend the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC). Playing

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 USC Trojans baseball team, he made his collegiate debut on February 25, 2009, against the Pepperdine Waves. In his freshman season, he made four starts, and went 3–4 in 18 appearances with one save and a 3.40 ERA, striking out 38 in 45 innings. In his sophomore season, he made six starts, and went 5–6 in 23 appearances, with two saves and a 4.47 ERA, striking out 58 in 56.1 innings. Despite the high ERA, opponents only hit .237 off him in 2010. After the 2010 season, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Brewster Whitecaps The Brewster Whitecaps are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Brewster, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Whitecaps play their home games at Stony Brook ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball 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 ...

. His junior season got off to a good start, where he was 1–2 with four saves and a 2.66 ERA in 19 appearances, but on April 17, he tore his ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, and was out for the remainder of the season after having

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

Summer baseball

Smith pitched for the

Peninsula Oilers The Peninsula Oilers are a college summer baseball club in the Alaska Baseball League. The Oilers are based in Kenai, Alaska, and their name refers to the Kenai Peninsula region. They are the league's southernmost team. The team was founded in 1 ...

of the

Alaska Baseball League The Alaska Baseball League (ABL) is an amateur collegiate summer baseball league. Players in the league must have attended one year of college and must have one year of NCAA eligibility remaining. The Midnight Sun Game, held at Growden Memorial ...

in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, he made six starts, and went 2–3 in 11 appearances, with a 1.95 ERA and one save, striking out 31 in 37 innings. In 2010, he went 1–1 in 11 appearances, with a 0.46 ERA and three saves, striking out 22 in 19.2 innings.

Professional career

Detroit Tigers

Smith was drafted by the

in the 17th 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 first ...

. Smith did not pitch professionally in 2011, as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Smith made his professional debut with the

GCL Tigers The Florida Complex League Tigers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Tigers. The team plays its home gam ...

in June 2012. He made four appearances before being promoted to Short-Season

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. He made two appearances in Connecticut before being promoted to Single-A West Michigan, where he made eight appearances to finish the year. In 14 games in 2012, Smith was 1–2 with a 2.76 ERA, striking out 48 in 45.2 innings. Smith pitched all of 2013 in West Michigan's bullpen, where he was 5–4 in 43 appearances, with a 2.12 ERA, striking out 73 in 72 innings. Smith made his 2014 debut with Double-A Erie, where he made seven appearances before being promoted to Triple-A

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

on April 28. Between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo, Smith posted a 5–2 record, 1.80 ERA and .220 batting average allowed. On June 18, 2014, Smith was called up by the Detroit Tigers.

Evan Reed Evan David Reed (born December 31, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers. Early life Reed attended Quincy High School in Quincy, California, and California Polytec ...

was designated for assignment to make room on the roster. Smith made his major league debut on June 22, in a game against 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 ...

. On February 24, 2015, Smith was designated for assignment by the Tigers.

Oakland Athletics

Smith was claimed off waivers by the

two days later. He was promoted to the major leagues in May and was designated for assignment after two appearances.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim / Texas Rangers

The Athletics traded Smith to the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

for cash considerations on May 8, 2015. Smith was released by the Angels on June 6, 2015. He signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers on August 19, 2015. Smith signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers in December 2015. He was released on June 6, 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Chad 1989 births Brewster Whitecaps players Connecticut Tigers players Detroit Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Glendale Desert Dogs players Gulf Coast Tigers players Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente pitchers Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Oakland Athletics players Baseball players from Thousand Oaks, California Salt Lake Bees players Toledo Mud Hens players USC Trojans baseball players West Michigan Whitecaps players Frisco RoughRiders players Criollos de Caguas players Round Rock Express players Peninsula Oilers players Thousand Oaks High School alumni