Kevin Smith…graduated from Columbia High School (East Greenbush, NY)…attended the University of Maryland where he hit .268 with 10 doubles, three triples, 13 home runs and 48 RBI over 54 games in his junior year.
2022
Was one of four players acquired from Toronto in the Matt Chapman deal during the spring and made the A’s Opening Day roster…hit .180 with two home runs, 13 RBI and a .518 OPS in 47 games before he was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on June 14…spent the balance of the season with the Aviators where he batted .268 with 13 home runs, 49 RBI and a .776 OPS in 86 games....With the A’s, struck out 42 times in 151 plate appearances, an average of 3.60 plate appearances per strikeout....Was a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts....Batted .260 (13-for-50) with eight of his 12 extra base hits (.756 OPS) against left-handed pitchers compared to .135 (12-for-89) with a .384 OPS against right-handers....His average improved to .206 with runners in scoring position....Connected for both of his home runs in the Coliseum....Went 0-for-12 in four interleague games and is now 0-for-13 against the National League in his career....Started 36 games at third base and five at shortstop…made one error in 39 games overall at third base (.991 fielding percentage) and one in 10 games at second base (.962)....Was 1-for-2 with a double as a pinch hitter....Started games in each of the bottom five spots in the order and had his most starts batting eighth (18)....Was successful in 6-of-7 (85.7%) stolen base attempts with Las Vegas and is now 73-for-89 (82.0%) in his career as a Minor Leaguer....Hit .212 with no home runs, 16 RBI and a .526 OPS over his first 48 games with the Aviators through Aug. 15…then batted .333 with 13 home runs, 33 RBI and a 1.069 OPS over his final 38 contests....Had a .320 (31-for-97) batting average with six home runs, 20 RBI and a .965 OPS against left-handed hitters compared to .247 (58-for-235) with seven home runs, 29 RBI and a .699 OPS against right-handers....Started 78 games at shortstop, seven at third base and one at designated hitter…committed 10 errors, all as a shortstop, for a .969 fielding percentage at short....Hit in every spot in the order except third and fifth…batted eighth 19 times, ninth 18 times and first 17 times…connected for six of his 13 home runs batting leadoff.,.DAY-BY-DAY: Was on the A’s Opening Day roster and went 0-for-16 over his first six games…finished the 2021 season with a 0-for-14 streak and his second inning single on April 14 at Tampa Bay snapped a career-high 0-for-30 streak overall…had a career-high four-game hitting streak from April 14-17 (5-for-12, .417), which included his first career two-hit game April 15 at Toronto…was batting .161 in 11 games when he was placed on the injured list April 20 retroactive to April 19 with a bone bruise in his left ankle…went 1-for-8 on a two-game rehab assignment with Las Vegas on April 27 and 28 and was reinstated from the IL on April 29…hit safely in each of his first four games following his return (5-for-12, .417)…stole the first base of his career April 30 against Cleveland…hit his first career grand slam and collected a career-high four RBI May 3 against Tampa Bay…went 5-for-40 (.125) over a 13-game stretch from May 4-16, which included a career-high tying four-game hitting streak from May 9-11 (5-for-15, .333)…hit .193 in 27 games in May…went 0-for-4 with a career-high three strikeouts on June 3 against Boston…was on an 0-for-16 streak when he was optioned to Las Vegas on June 12…has 171 career at bats and has hitless streaks of 14, 30, 14, 18, 21 and 16…was 4-for-5 in first game with Las Vegas on June 14 at El Paso…then went 6-for-42 (.143) over his next 11 contests…struck out at least once in 27 consecutive games from June 23 to July 31 (42 strikeouts total)…was 0-for-5 with a Minor League career-high tying four strikeouts July 8 at Oklahoma City…had four straight multiple hit games from July 27-30 (9-for-18, .500)…was 2-for-4 with no extra base hits on Aug. 19 against Sacramento but drove in a season-high four runs…then hit his first home run with the Aviators the next day against the River Cats, snapping a 51-game homerless streak at Triple-A…had a .224 batting average, two home runs, 30 RBI and a .592 OPS over his first 61 minor league games through the end of August…then hit .365 with 11 home runs, 19 RBI and a 1.184 OPS in 25 games in September…ranked second among all minor leaguers in hits in September (38), tied for second in home runs, third in extra base hits (19) and fifth in slugging (.779)…had a minor league season-high nine-game hitting streak from Sept. 4-14 (15-for-38, .395)…batted .397 (29-for-73) with three doubles, two triples, 11 home runs and 14 RBI over a 17-game stretch from Sept. 9-27…hit for the cycle on Sept. 17 against Tacoma when he went 5-for-5 with five runs, a double, triple, two home runs and three RBI…it was the first time he scored five runs in a game and it was his second career five-hit game (Sept. 15, 2021 at Rochester)…it was his fourth two-homer game as a minor leaguer and his fifth came on Sept. 26 at Sacramento…collected his 500th career Minor League hit Sept. 21 vs. Reno.
2021
Spent most of the season at Triple-A Buffalo but made his Major League debut with Toronto… went 3-for-32 (.094) with a home run and RBI in 18 games over two stints with the Blue Jays. ...Was 3-for-19 (.158) against left-handed pitchers, 0-for-13 against right-handers. ...All three hits came with the bases empty…went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. ...Started eight games at third base and one each at first base, left field and designated hitter… committed one error, and it came in 14 games overall at third base (.950 fielding percentage). ...Had six starts batting eight and five hitting ninth. ...Earned Buffalo’s Stan Barron Most Valuable Player Award and was named to the Triple-A East Postseason All-Star team after batting .285 with 21 home runs and 69 RBI in 94 games with the Bisons…added a career-high 46 walks for a career-high .370 on-base percentage…also had career bests in slugging (.561) and OPS (.931). ...Was named an Organizational All-Star by MiLB.com. ...Was 18-for-21 (85.7%) in stolen base attempts and has reached double figures in home runs and stolen bases in each of his last three seasons. ...Tied for second in the Triple-A East in extra base hits (52), ranked fourth in slugging percentage, fifth in OPS, tied for fifth in RBI, sixth in total bases (199), tied for seventh in home runs and doubles (27) and eighth in on-base percentage. ...Ranked second in the Blue Jays farm system in home runs, extra base hits and total bases, third in doubles and RBI, tied for fourth in triples (4), seventh in hits (101) and eighth in runs (65). ...Hit .297 (82-for-276) with 17 of his 21 home runs and a .956 OPS against right-handed pitchers compared to .241 (19-for-76) with a .843 OPS against left-handers. ...Batted .299 with runners in scoring position. ...Hit .328 with a 1.052 OPS at home, .243 with a .813 OPS on the road. ...Had a .359 batting average in 20 day games, a .264 average in 74 contests at night. ...Batted .264 over innings 1-6, .337 from the seventh inning on ...Started 66 games at shortstop, 17 at third base, six at designated hitter, four in left field and one at first base…made nine errors at shortstop (.968 fielding percentage) and one at third base (.979). ...Hit in every spot in the order except first, eighth and ninth. ...Was rated as the Toronto’s seventh-best prospect by Baseball America following the season ...DAY-BY-DAY: Began the season on the injured list at Toronto’s alternate site with a left foot contusion…was reinstated on April 16 and started the year at Buffalo when the Triple-A season began in May…batted .174 over his first six games but then reached base safely in 21 consecutive contests from May 12-June 8…hit .306 with a .400 on-base percentage during the streak…had two doubles June 1 against Syracuse, his first of four two-double games… homered twice and drove in a season-high four runs June 15 at Rochester…it was the third two-homer game of his career…hit .326 with seven home runs, 23 RBI and a 1.104 OPS in 25 games in June…then batted .317 with six home runs, 15 RBI and a .987 OPS in July…had a 17-game hitting streak from July 10-30…went 28-for-67 (.418) with seven doubles, a triple, six home runs, 14 RBI, seven walks, four stolen bases and a 1.294 OPS during the streak…was batting .286 with 19 home runs and 63 RBI in 82 games when he was selected by Toronto on Aug. 18…made his Major League debut that day at Washington when he struck out as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning…made his first start on Aug. 20 against Detroit as the designated hitter and went 1-for-4…singled off Tyler Alexander in the third inning for his first ML hit… then went 0 for his next 14…hit his first home run Aug. 29 at Detroit, a fourth-inning solo shot off Matthew Boyd…it was also his first career RBI…that would be his final hit as he finished the season with a 0-for-14 streak…was batting .094 in 17 games when he was optioned to Buffalo on Sept. 10…was 5-for-7 with four runs scored, a double and two RBI in a 20-3 win at Rochester on Sept. 15…it was the first five-hit game of his career and the runs scored matched his career high…went 8-for-31 (.258) with six runs scored during his second stint with Buffalo…was recalled by Toronto on Sept. 22, pinch ran and played third base on Sept. 23 at Minnesota and was returned to Buffalo on Sept. 24…went 6-for-20 (.300) with two home runs and three RBI over his final five games…had his lone two-steal game of the season on Sept. 26 against Lehigh Valley.
2020
Played in 17 games during Spring Training, driving in six runs while also connecting for a home run...Played four games at second, seven games at third and seven at shortstop... Invited to Summer Camp at Rogers Centre in July... Spent the regular season at the club’s alternate training site in Rochester, NY.
2019
Played all 116 games for the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats...Hit .183 with a .590 OPS prior to the All-Star break, but batted .249 with a .778 OPS afterwards...Homered in three straight games (four total home runs) from July 12-14.
