Pitt's Kevan Smith Faring Well In Minor Leagues

With all the talk about the College World Series, I wanted to check up on former Pitt baseball player, Kevan Smith. Smith, a former quarterback for the football program, wisely decided to become a baseball player after playing the sport in high school. He went on to a good career at Pitt, was selected in the seventh round of the MLB Draft last year, and is already making a splash in the minor leagues.

Smith wasn't the only Pitt player taken in the draft last year as the Panthers had a record six players selected. But Smith is the one I probably care the most about due to his link with the football program. Seems he's doing alright so far.

Last year in his first season of professional baseball, he hit nine home runs in only 56 games while batting .355 in rookie league ball in a Chicago White Sox affiliate. This year, Smith's moved on to A ball and while his numbers have dipped a bit (as of this past weekend, he had three HRs and a .287 average), he's still hitting fairly well.

Smith probably has a reasonable shot at getting to AA by the end of this year, which wouldn't be bad considering he is in only his second year.

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