Josh
Smith

2016 Pre-Season First Team All-State

2/24/16 A 5-foot-9, 170-pound shortstop with a medium athletic frame. Outstanding defender with soft hands, fluid footwork and actions. Left-handed hitter with simple, compact stroke, level path and bat speed. Line-drive, gap to gap type hitter with fluid rhythm and confidence in the box. Hit a towering home run, as well as hard single to right.

11/7/15 A 5-foot-9, 170-pound infielder with an average, athletic frame. Outstanding defender with soft hands, fluid footwork, quick and clean exchange, and plays through balls well. Loose arm action into ¾ release with accuracy and carry on throws that produced a positional velocity of 84 mph. Left-handed hitter that hits from a tall setup, smooth load, leg kick, and solid lower half. Line-drive type hitter with fluid rhythm, level path and bat speed that produced an exit velocity of 87 mph. Also posted a 6.79 60 yard dash.

A 5-foot-9, 170-pound middle infielder and Louisiana State commit. Small, athletic frame with surprising strength. Solid defender with smooth actions, soft hands, near college average arm strength, and an understanding of angles and hops. Left-handed hitter with simple, repeatable stroke, gap to gap approach, quick hands, quality path and solid average bat speed.

3/23/19: After a very good freshman season in 2017 when he slashed .282/.409/.408, Smith missed most of last season with a stress reaction in his lower back. As a redshirt sophomore he has returned better than ever and is climbing draft boards. Currently slashing .349/.465/.494 with eight stolen bases, Smith sets up with a slightly open stance in the back of the box. Takes a longer stride and front foot settles slightly closed in relation to his back foot. Connects well with good separation and the rotation of both his hips and barrel produce above average bat speed. Keeps his hands back which gives him the ability to drive the ball the other way with authority. Projects to be an above average hitter with gap power at the ML level. With a career strikeout rate of 11.2% and a good walk rate (13.1%), he would fit nicely into the 2-hole of a MLB lineup. Defensively, he slows the game down, showing very good instincts and sure hands. Average arm strength from all angles with a quick release and above average range. The Tigers had a mixed history with drafted sophomores in 2018. Some returned to campus (Zach Watson, Zack Hess) and others (Nick Bush, Jake Slaughter) signing professionally. However, Smith turns 22 years old in early August and projects to be selected in the early rounds this June making it more likely that he will begin his professional career sooner, rather than later. (Seifert)