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Smith is sidelined at High-A Bowling Green with a hamstring injury, Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline reports.
Smith is not officially listed on the injured list, but he hasn't played in a game yet this season. Once healthy, Smith could soon earn a bump to Double-A, as he played in 102 games at High-A last year.
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Rays' Aidan Smith: Blistering finish for Hot Rods
Rotowire
Smith slashed .308/.379/.500 with four home runs, 10 steals, a 10.3 percent walk rate and a 26.4 percent strikeout rate in his final 20 games for High-A Bowling Green.
On the season, Smith slashed .237/.331/.388 with 14 home runs, 41 steals, an 11.5 percent walk rate and a 31.2 percent strikeout rate in 102 games for the Hot Rods. The righty-hitting outfielder will play in the Arizona Fall League this year before heading to Double-A next year for his age-21/22 season. Smith's production was down from what he did last year at Single-A, but he was still 13 percent better than the average Sally League hitter while being two years younger than the average player in the league. He primarily played center field and had an 87.2 percent success rate stealing bases, so Smith has several ways to impact the game in a positive way. Strikeouts are a bigger problem for Smith than they appeared to be before the season, but he still showed plenty of power/speed potential while getting on base at a passable clip.
Smith, Brody Hopkins and a player to be named later were traded from the Mariners to the Rays in exchange for Randy Arozarena on Friday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Smith was selected by the Mariners in the fourth round of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft and has spent the 2024 season at Single-A Modesto. He's maintained an impressive .877 OPS and 136 wRC+ across 358 plate appearances as a 19-year-old, though he's still several years away from reaching the majors.
