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

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 for 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 ...

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 (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, 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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

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).

Early life

Smoker was born in

Calhoun, Georgia Calhoun is a city in Gordon County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,949. Calhoun is the county seat of Gordon County. History In December 1827, Georgia had already claimed the Cherokee lands that be ...

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 (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

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

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

''. 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 Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

for Georgia after finishing with a 1.24

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

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

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 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.. 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 ...

in the first round of the

2007 Major League Baseball draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the f ...

out of Calhoun High School in

. In 2008, he underwent surgery on a bone spur in his shoulder. In 2013, Dr. James Andrews performed surgery on Smoker to repair a torn rotator cuff and labrum. With his fastball velocity declining, the Nationals organization released him without him ever having played higher than Class A-Advanced.

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 team ...

of the Frontier League 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 win 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 (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

at Citi Field. 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 years ...

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 in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Zamora played college baseball for the Stony Brook Seawolves and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 40th r ...

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 Mud Hens team has played in ...

. 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 (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

. 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 of the

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

. 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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

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