Infielder Jamey Smart Signed by Washington After Trade
WASHINGTON, Pa. (Feb. 18) - The Washington Wild Things, after acquiring first baseman Jamey Smart from the Southern Illinois Miners to complete a previous trade with the club October 6, 2021, have signed Smart and added him to the roster for their upcoming 2022 season. Smart most recently played with the Miners after a stop in the American Association and with the Windy City ThunderBolts in 2021 before playing in Marion, Illlinois with Southern Illinois.
Smart slashed .509/.623/.678 with four doubles, two home runs and 14 RBI in 18 games with the Miners. In the 77 plate appearances he gathered, Smart only struck out eight times to drawing 17 walks. Before his time in Southern Illinois, he played in two games for Sioux City in the American Association and then 30 games with the Windy City ThunderBolts, where he hit .255 with an on-base percentage of .413 in 126 plate appearances in 2021.
Smart, along with infielder Ian Walters, was acquired to complete two previous trades with the Miners in early October, but he's a guy manager Tom Vaeth had his eye on for a while.
"Jamey is a guy who I targeted right away once he arrived in Southern Illinois to complete the previous trades during last season. I actually had Jamey to start his career in Winnipeg for a brief time and was impressed with his work ethic while spending time with him in the hitting cage," said Vaeth. "He’s always been the type of guy you can count on to get two to three hits a night for you somehow someway. I look for him to be a consistent threat to drive in runs and be a presence in the middle of our lineup."
Smart's pro career started in 2018 with three stops: with Sante Fe in the Pecos League and both the Winnipeg Goldeyes and Lincoln Saltdogs in the American Association. He slashed .310/.379/410 between the three teams and drove in 30 runs. He made his Frontier League debut in 2019 by splitting time between the Miners and Gateway Grizzlies. He played in 56 games for Southern Illinois and 34 for Gateway. Between the two, the former Loyola Maramount standout slashed .290/.370/.423 with 25 doubles, five home runs and 55 RBI, his career highs in all three categories.
At Loyola Maramount, Smart played in 200 games, amassing a career batting slash line of .298/.372/.411 with 31 doubles, 13 homers and 123 RBI.
Smart will join an already solid group of Wild Things' infielders on the roster for the 2022 season.
The Wild Things will kick off their 20th Frontier League season May 13 at home against the New York Boulders. The full schedule is available at washingtonwildthings.com. Check out the roster as it gets announced by clicking here.
