Jordan Smith (born February 4, 1986) is a former

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

. Smith is , 220 pounds and bats and throws right-handed.

Early life

Smith graduated from Pleasant Grove High School in

Pleasant Grove, Utah Pleasant Grove, originally named Battle Creek, is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States known as "Utah's City of Trees". It is part of the Provo– Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 37,726 at the 2020 Census. Hist ...

. He spent one season at

Salt Lake Community College Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a public community college in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is the state's largest two-year college with the most diverse student body. It serves more than 60,000 students on 10 campuses as well as through onl ...

, playing mostly as catcher. Due to injuries among SLCC's pitching staff, he was moved to mound and started throwing fastballs in the low 90's (mph). He also played for the Community College of Southern Nevada in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

before his professional career began. Smith's brother is Egan Smith, a left-handed pitcher who was drafted by and signed with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

in 2009.

Professional baseball

2006

The Reds selected Smith in the 6th round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft with the 174th overall pick. He was signed by scout Jeff Morris. Smith started his professional career in 2006, playing for Rookie League

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

. He was a Pioneer League All-Star. His 3.01

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 ...

ranked seventh among all Reds minor league pitchers; his six wins was tied for first in the Pioneer League and his ERA was sixth best. Smith did not allow a home run in his first 11 starts (57 innings).

2007

Smith was promoted to Class A

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

in 2007. He was 10–8 in 26 starts for the Dragons, and allowed two earned runs or fewer in 16 of his starts. In a 30 innings stretch from April 27 to May 18, he posted a 0.88 ERA and struck out 23, with a 2–2 record. Smith had eight

quality start In baseball, a quality start is a statistic for a starting pitcher defined as a game in which the pitcher completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs. The quality start has effectively replaced the 'complete game' a ...

s, allowing 0 runs in four starts combined (27 innings).

2008

Smith split the season with

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 and Double-A, and abov ...

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...

and Double-A Chattanooga. In 21 starts combined, he went 9–8 with a 3.84 ERA. His ERA ranked eighth among all Reds minor leaguers. He earned the Reds minor league pitcher of the month for April. Smith was a Florida State League All-Star while in Sarasota. Over a 24 innings, three start stretch from April 30 to May 2; Smith pitched eight innings or more in all three, allowed three runs, and walked none. He was promoted to Chattanooga on May 25, earning an invitation to the 2009 major league spring training camp.

2009

Smith remained in Double-A (now the

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and play their home games at Five County Stadium. ...

), but only made 13 starts. He made three separate trips to the disabled list for throwing elbow and left knee injuries, and the elbow kept him out of action for the rest of the season after July 2. He still was a Southern League mid-season All-Star, and pitcher of the week for the week of 5/18 to 5/24. Smith was a

non-roster invitee A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

for big league camp, but was added to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

on November 20, 2009, guaranteeing him an invitation.

Major League Baseball

The Reds signed Smith to a one-year, $400,000 contract on March 3, 2010. Smith was promoted from Carolina to the Cincinnati Reds on June 15. He was optioned to Triple-A

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, but returned to the Reds as a September call-up. Smith did not make the Reds 25-man post season roster, but is an eligible reserve. In 2 years with the Reds, Smith went 3–2 with a 4.94 ERA with 62 innings and 39 strikeouts in 54 games. On November 3, 2012, Smith signed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins with an invitation to spring training. On July 4, 2013, he was released.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jordan 1986 births Living people Cincinnati Reds players Baseball players from Utah Southern Nevada Coyotes baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers People from American Fork, Utah Sportspeople from Utah County, Utah Billings Mustangs players Dayton Dragons players Sarasota Reds players Chattanooga Lookouts players Carolina Mudcats players Arizona League Reds players Louisville Bats players Salt Lake Bruins baseball players New Orleans Zephyrs players