Smith is the 174th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former La Crosse Logger, Tyler Smith, made his Major League debut for the Seattle Mariners on Friday, June 2, 2017. Smith is the 174th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Smith, who played collegiately at Oregon State, played for the La Crosse Loggers in 2011. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 8th round of the 2013 MLB Draft.
In 2011 with the Loggers, Smith hit .299 with three home runs, 11 doubles and 38 RBI. He also stole four bases.
Smith started his Minor League career in 2013 with the Pulaski Mariners in the Rookie Level Appalachian League. Over 52 games he hit .320 with 16 doubles, two triples and two home runs to go along with 34 runs driven in and 12 stolen bases.
The 2014 season saw Smith split the year with two teams. He began the year with the High Desert Mavericks of the Hi-A California League. After 108 games, he was promoted to the AA Southern League with the Jackson Generals. Over 128 games he hit a combined .284 with 10 home runs, eight triples and 22 doubles. He also drove in 48 runs and once again stole 12 bases.
Smith spent the entire 2015 season in Jackson. For the year, he hit .270 with 24 doubles, two triples and three home runs. He hit double digits in steals for the third straight year as he stole 10 bases and drove in 31 runs.
A promotion to AAA and the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League was where Smith spent the 2016 season. In 114 games, he hit .268 and drove in 37 runs. He also had five home runs, 20 doubles and stole six bases.
Smith went back to Tacoma to start the 2017 season. Before his call-up to the Mariners he had appeared in 50 games and was hitting .265 with five home runs, eight doubles, three stolen bases and 18 runs driven in.
In his Major League debut against the Tampa Bay Rays, Smith entered the game in the top of the 8th inning as a defensive replacement for second baseman Robinson Cano. In the bottom of the inning, Smith doubled to left off of Rays reliever Ryne Stanek for his first Major League hit.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 23-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 170 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.