Baseball runs in Blue Jays prospect Austin Smith’s family. His father, Brian, was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 1995 and played five seasons of pro baseball, spending two years in the Mariners minor league system before playing three years of independent ball.

Now forging his own path in the game, the younger Smith spent his early years at UC San Diego before transferring to the University of San Diego, where he played from 2023 through 2025, earning Finalist honours for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award (2025), All-WCC First Team honours (2024, 2025), and ABCA/Rawlings NCAA D1 Third Team All-American honours (2024).

As an established two-way player, Smith garnered attention from pro baseball teams heading into the summer following his senior year and was looking to turn this passion into a lifelong career at the next level.

“I felt pretty 50/50 heading into the draft, more so on whether I would hear my name called in the draft or whether I would sign a free agent deal after,” said Smith, speaking to Blue Jays Nation. “I did a couple of workouts with different teams, one of which was with Toronto, and I spoke with the Area Scout (Tony Cho) quite a bit this year, which made me think I could be on the Jays’ radar. Overall, I was just going with the motions and waiting to see how things would shake up.”

College seniors are normally selected on Day 2, somewhere around the round 7-10 area. This was where Smith was expecting to hear his name called should a pro team take a chance on the southpaw/outfielder. When the day finally came, Smith’s intuition was bang on – he was becoming a Blue Jay, right in round 10.

“I actually didn’t get a phone call before the pick came in; it just kind of happened on the spot,” explained Smith. “I was sitting in the living room with my family and my girlfriend, and we had the TV on, announcing the names, and I also had the tracker up on my phone. Because the phone was a bit ahead of the TV, I saw my name come across with the Jays logo, and that’s when it really hit me.

“It was that initial ‘holy crap’ feeling, it just didn’t feel real. I was in total disbelief. I had worked so hard through high school and college to get to this moment, so when it happened, I was overjoyed. I called my agent, spoke to the Jays, and then it was off to the races.”

It was a whirlwind day in the Smith household; there were now two pro baseball players in the family. However, the emotions and excitement were short-lived, as the California product was on a plane just two days later to be on the West Coast at the Jays Player Development Complex in Dunedin, Florida, to get his pro career rolling.

“I enjoyed the day with my family, but then it was a bunch of calls with the Jays and my agents, figuring out a schedule and getting everything organized,” said Smith. “I was on a plane two days later and then spent a week and a half in Dunedin in a mini-draft camp with the rest of the draft class. We got the fundamentals out of the way with the contract, seeing the facility, and speaking with the staff, but then it was back to work again, doing different hitting and throwing drills, getting some work in the outfield. Then for me, it was off to Single-A with the Blue Jays.”

Smith was one of the few from the draft class who played affiliate ball to close out the season, slotting into 23 games with the Blue Jays down the stretch.

He didn’t appear on the mound for Dunedin, just spending time in the outfield, and made 99 appearances at the plate. Overall, he crafted a .259/.394/.395 slash line, accumulating 21 hits, five doubles, and two home runs. The left-handed bat also chipped in with seven RBIs and stole seven bases, and finished his first taste of pro baseball with a .789 OPS and a clean fielding percentage split between all three outfield spots, including one outfield assist.

The 22-year-old got a ton of firsts out of the way, including his first professional home run. On August 14th, against the Tampa Tarpons (Yankees affiliate), Smith came to bat in the top of the seventh against right-hander Cade Austin. After generating a full count, Smith sent a hanging middle-middle changeup over the right centre field wall, sending the blast 344 feet into the visitor’s bullpen.

While the game wasn’t live-streamed, Smith’s family got to see the historic moment thanks to his girlfriend.

“It was a great stretch for me personally, it felt like I was seeing beach balls at the plate,” explained Smith. “The pitcher hung a changeup, and I put a good swing on it, and I just knew that it was gone from the sound of the bat. As soon as it went over the wall, I was just soaking in the moment and rounding the bases; it was just a surreal feeling. The game wasn’t being streamed, so my family didn’t get to see it at the time it happened, but my girlfriend was videotaping it on her phone and was able to send back the footage to my family so they could all enjoy it.

“It’s funny because my dad and I had a running joke, considering he was drafted and played pro baseball too. It was always, ‘well, now that you have a college home run, now you need one in the pros, ‘ and now I am on that same level as him. I am part of that club now.”

Did Smith get the monumental baseball back?

“The ball landed in the bullpen and Carson Myers was able to give it back to me, so that’s a really cool feeling,” said Smith. “Had it gone a few feet in a different direction, it likely wouldn’t have landed in there and would have likely been gone.”

With the Toreros, Smith was also a left-handed reliever, making 46 appearances on the mound (including 21 starts). Through 144 2/3 innings, he crafted a 4.23 ERA with 148 strikeouts and 68 walks, holding opponents to a .243 average.

It’s an avenue the Jays are interested in exploring, but not until the new year, according to Smith.

“Leading into the draft last year, I thought there was a chance I could get drafted, but that didn’t happen, so I went back for the senior year,” said Smith. “Quite a few teams liked the possibility and me pitching and playing in the outfield, and the Jays were one of those teams. When I got drafted, the organization noted that they were interested in exploring the two-way possibility, but not until the new year; they wanted me to finish the season in the outfield and get some swings at the plate, and then focus on this winter on both aspects of the game to get ready for spring training.

“The current outlook has me working on those aspects this winter, and then come spring, I will get some work with the pitching staff while taking reps as a position player. There’s no defined role right now, whether it is as a potential starter or in the bullpen, but it’s exciting to know that I am getting an opportunity to explore both sides of the game. I have had quite a few staff on the Jays tell me that they haven’t really had a bona fide two-way player in recent memory, so I just want to go out there and solidify myself as one who can make it stick at a high level. Just go out there and crush it, and help the team win on both sides of the game.”

Diving into the archives, the most recent example of the Jays having a two-way player was MacKenzie Mueller, who both pitched and played in the outfield in 2022 with the Vancouver Canadians. Other players, such as Hagen Danner and Sebastian Espino, both made the switch from position player to pitcher, but not in a two-way setting.

As December is knocking on the door, Smith is focused on the things he can control to become a better baseball player, regardless of where he takes the field. With these goals in mind and his first full season on the horizon, the California product is ready to go in whatever capacity the Blue Jays need him in.

“The priority this offseason is just becoming a more well-rounded player, and I think that starts with getting stronger,” said Smith. “By getting stronger, it helps with being more explosive on the mound and at the plate, and I really want to do more damage with some extra base hits this year. In staying fit and healthy, I can go out there and get the job done, be ready for whatever moment I am needed. I just want to help my team win, in any way I can.”

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