'Student of the game' that Seattle acquired at Deadline ranks second in MiLB in OPS
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Some prospects get a soft landing into pro ball, spending the vast majority of their time with one affiliate in their debut campaign. That hasn’t been the case for Boston Smith, who despite having played for three organizations and four clubs at three different levels, ranks second in all of Minor League Baseball in OPS (1.041) entering play Wednesday.
Smith embarked on his 2026 campaign in West Palm Beach, Florida, joining Minor League camp as a member of the Nationals, who selected him in the sixth round last July and handed him a way-under-slot signing bonus of just $50,000 to begin his pro career. But he never saw game action with the club as he was flipped to the White Sox in exchange for infielder Curtis Mead on March 28.
So, after turning 23 years old during the offseason and despite being more than two-and-a-half years older than the average Carolina League player, Smith got his pro odyssey under way with Single-A Kannapolis in April. After just eight games, he got the bump to High-A Winston-Salem. Once the calendar flipped to July, he was on the move again to Double-A Birmingham.
But the circumnavigation didn’t end there. On Aug. 2, he was acquired by the Mariners as part of a three-player return from the White Sox for right-hander Luis Castillo. Smith remained at Double-A, but flipped over to the Texas League, where he has starred for Arkansas. Through all of the changes of scenery, one thing has remained constant for the Mariners’ No. 13 prospect:
He just keeps on raking.
“Another exciting guy that we’ve been able to add to that Double-A mix down there that’s been fun to watch,” Mariners director of player development Justin Toole said during Wednesday’s television broadcast. “He’s a student of the game. He looks to take the extra base, things like that.”
While Smith’s 2026 breakout has seemingly come out of nowhere, it’s far from an anomaly. He clubbed 19 home runs as a junior at Wright State, posting a 1.101 OPS but ultimately went undrafted. That led to a return for his senior year, and he set the program's single-season record with 26 homers, tying for the NCAA Division I lead. He then posted an .825 OPS and tagged three homers while running an even K/BB ratio during an 18-game stint in the MLB Draft League.
Across his time at Wright State and at various college summer league stops, Smith appeared at every position except for pitcher or first base. He was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team in 2024 while playing in at least three games apiece at shortstop, second base, third base, catcher and left field. While the White Sox organization got him reps in left prior to the trade, the Mariners have been steadfast about his development behind the dish.
“He’s really embraced [being] behind the plate. Our group really thinks he can catch,” said Toole. “Obviously his experience up to this point is playing a lot of different positions and moving around. You feel comfortable if you want to stick him back in the outfield that he can do that, but we like what we’ve seen behind the plate so far. Definitely love what we’re seeing with the bat as well.”
And what’s not to like. Despite the difficulties that come with not only having to manage a pitching staff and a gameplan, Smith has had to learn four new groups in the past five months. That's without factoring in the jump from A ball to the upper Minors, widely considered to be the most significant leap in competition on the farm.
Despite that, Smith has posted an OPS above .910 each month with an OPS above 1.000 vs. both left- and right-handed hurlers and is one of just 20 Minor Leaguers with 30 or more home runs this season.
Smith has reached many of those marks by tapping into his feel for pull-side power. Just 5-feet-10 and 195 pounds, Smith swings like a slugger with 45.9 percent of his balls in play going into the air (a mark at 49 percent since joining Arkansas), tied for the 15th-highest rate out of 284 Minor League hitters with at least 450 plate appearances this year. While his K rate has been elevated (28.4 percent), he ranks fourth among that same group of hitters with a 20.6 percent walk rate, which has aided him in running the third-highest on-base percentage in all of the Minors at .439.