Kevan Alan Smith (born June 28, 1988) 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

who is a free agent. He has 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

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

Los Angeles Angels 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 ...

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) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

, and

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 ...

. Prior to playing professionally, Smith attended the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

, where he played for the

Pittsburgh Panthers baseball The Pittsburgh Panthers baseball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pitt baseball team competes in the Atlantic Coast Con ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

teams. The White Sox selected Smith in the seventh 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 ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2016.

Amateur career

Smith attended

Seneca Valley High School Seneca Valley High School (SVHS) is a U.S. public high school (grades 9-12) in Germantown, Maryland. It is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system. Its enrollment for the 2019–2020 school year was 1,226 students. The new building ...

Harmony, Pennsylvania Harmony is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 890 at the 2010 census. It is located approximately north of Pittsburgh. Geography Harmony is located in southwestern Butler County, along the northeastern ...

, graduating in 2006. During his high school career, he played for the school's

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, but was limited to only 12 games. Smith enrolled at the

and played for the

Pittsburgh Panthers football The Pittsburgh Panthers football program is the College athletics, intercollegiate American football, football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport a ...

team. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

during his first year at Pittsburgh, in 2006, and became the Panthers' starting quarterback in 2007 following an injury to

Bill Stull William Thomas Stull (born December 18, 1986) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football with the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. Early years Stull was born in Warren, Ohio. He lived in the small town of Newton Fall ...

. He lost his starting role to Pat Bostick, a freshman, after struggling in a 2007 game against the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

. He appeared in five games during the 2007 season, and one game during the 2008 season. After the 2008 season, coach

Dave Wannstedt David Wannstedt (born May 21, 1952) is a former American football coach. He has been the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He was also the head coach of the University of Pittsburgh footbal ...

and

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

Matt Cavanaugh Matthew Andrew Cavanaugh (born October 27, 1956) is an American football coach and former quarterback. During his playing career, he earned two Super Bowl rings. Since his retirement after the 1991 season, Cavanaugh has worked as an offensive c ...

approached Smith about changing positions. As Smith had increased his

weight training Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength, size of skeletal muscles and maintenance of strength.Keogh, Justin W, and Paul W Winwood. “Report for: The Epidemiology of Injuries Across the Weight-Traini ...

, they considered moving him to

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. He instead opted to quit football so that he could play for the

team. For the baseball team, Smith had a .375

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, 19

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 123

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBIs) in his three seasons. He was twice named an All-

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

selection and twice named to the All-Tournament Team in the

Big East Conference baseball tournament The Big East Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Big East Conference. It is a double-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular-season records. The winner receives the conference ...

Professional career

Chicago White Sox

The

selected Smith in the seventh round of the

. He began his career with the

Bristol White Sox The Bristol Pirates were a Minor League Baseball team in Bristol, Virginia, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team played home games at DeVault Memorial Stadium. Opened in 1969, Devault Memorial Stadium ...

of the Rookie-level

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...

. He was promoted mid season to the

Great Falls Voyagers The Great Falls Voyagers are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Great Falls, Montana, and play their home games at Cente ...

of the Rookie-level Pioneer League. He began the 2012 season with the

Kannapolis Intimidators Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Cabarrus and Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord, North Carolina, Concord and northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, ...

of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. Towards the end of the season, Smith was promoted to the Winston Salem Dash of the

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 ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. In 2013, Smith played the whole season for Winston-Salem. In 2014, Smith played for the

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The current ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Southern League. He hit .290 with 10 home runs and 48 RBIs in 106 games for Birmingham, and threw out 33 percent of baserunners attempting

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s. After the 2014 season, the White Sox assigned Smith to the

Glendale Desert Dogs The Glendale Desert Dogs are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Chicago White ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

. On November 20, 2014, the White Sox added Smith to their

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, and ...

. Smith spent the 2015 season with the

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 20 ...

of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL ...

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

, and began 2016 in Charlotte. With

Alex Avila Alexander Thomas Avila (born January 29, 1987) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Between 2009 and 2021 he played for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins and Washingt ...

going on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

, the White Sox promoted Smith to the major leagues on April 24, 2016. Smith was scratched from the lineup on April 25 with back spasms, and the White Sox put Smith on the

due to

sacroiliac joint dysfunction The term sacroiliac joint dysfunction refers to abnormal motion in the sacroiliac joint, either too much motion or too little motion, that causes pain in this region. Signs and symptoms Common symptoms include lower back pain, buttocks pain, sci ...

the next day. On May 22, 2016, he was activated from the 15-day disabled list and returned to Charlotte. One game after his activation with the Knights, he went back on the disabled list. The White Sox promoted Smith to the major leagues on September 1, and he made his major league debut that day. He recorded his first two major league hits on September 17. On February 10, 2017, Smith cleared waivers and was outrighted to Charlotte. Smith began the 2017 season with Charlotte, and was promoted to the major leagues on April 13. In 2017 with the White Sox he batted .283/.309/.388 with 4 home runs and 30 RBIs in 273 at bats.Kevan Smith Stats , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> In 2018 with the White Sox he batted .292/.348/.380 with 3 home runs and 21 RBIs in 171 at bats.

Los Angeles Angels

On October 26, 2018, Smith was claimed off waivers by the

. Smith played in 67 games for the Angels in 2019, batting .251/.318/.393 with 5 home runs and 20 RBI. On December 2, 2019, Smith was non-tendered by the Angels and became a free agent.

Tampa Bay Rays

On January 11, 2020, Smith signed a minor league deal with the

. Smith was promoted to the Rays' major league roster on July 21, 2020, after Colin Poche was placed on the injured list following a torn UCL. He was designated for assignment on August 9, and was outrighted by the Rays on August 12. On August 29, 2020, Smith was selected back to the active roster. On October 30, 2020, Smith was outrighted off of the 40-man roster and elected free agency. On December 29, 2020, Smith re-signed with the Rays on a minor league contract. On May 7, 2021, Smith was selected to the active roster. Smith notched 1 hit in 5 plate appearances before being designated for assignment by the Rays on May 16.

Atlanta Braves

On May 19, 2021, Smith was traded to the

in exchange for cash considerations. On August 11, the Braves designated Smith for assignment to make room for

Travis d'Arnaud Travis Emmanuel d'Arnaud (born February 10, 1989), nicknamed Lil D, is an American professional baseball catcher for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the supplemental first round ...

. Smith elected free agency on August 13.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Kevan 1988 births Living people Major League Baseball catchers American football quarterbacks Chicago White Sox players Los Angeles Angels players Tampa Bay Rays players Atlanta Braves players Pittsburgh Panthers football players Pittsburgh Panthers baseball players Bristol White Sox players Great Falls Voyagers players Kannapolis Intimidators players Winston-Salem Dash players Birmingham Barons players Charlotte Knights players Players of American football from Pittsburgh Baseball players from Pittsburgh