Burch Smith

The San Diego Padres selected Smith in the 11th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft; he signed for a signing bonus of $250,000.[5][6][7][8]

Pitching for the Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm in 2012, Smith went 9–6 with a 3.85 earned run average and 137 strikeouts. He started the 2013 season with the Double-A San Antonio Missions.[9] He was named the Texas League Pitcher of the Week in April 2013,[10] and the Padres Minor League Pitcher of the Month for April with a 1.38 ERA over five starts.[11] Smith made his Major League debut Saturday, May 11, 2013, against the Tampa Bay Rays as he was called up from Double-A.[12]

In his Major League debut, Smith pitched a clean first inning, striking out his first two batters, but he did not record an out in the second, giving up six earned runs on five hits. He was sent down to the Tucson Padres of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL) on May 22 after allowing 15 earned runs in three starts. He was recalled on June 8, but did not make an appearance before he was optioned back to Tucson on June 10. He came back to the Major League club on June 28 after posting a 2.54 ERA in five starts overall with Tucson.[11] Smith joined the bullpen where he made three appearances before being sent down again on July 5.

Smith made seven more starts for Tucson, striking out 10 in his final appearance, and then returned to the Padres' rotation with the September roster expansion.[13] He made four more starts for the Padres in 2013, allowing 10 runs with 31 strikeouts.

On December 19, 2014, the Padres traded Smith, Jake Bauers, and René Rivera to the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-team trade that saw the Rays trade Wil Myers, Jose Castillo and Ryan Hanigan to the Padres, the Padres trade Joe Ross and a player to be named later to the Washington Nationals, and Washington trade Steven Souza and Travis Ott to Tampa Bay.[14] Smith missed the 2015 season after having Tommy John surgery.[15] Smith was outrighted following the 2015 season.

The New York Mets selected Smith in the Rule 5 draft on December 14, 2017, and immediately traded him to the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations.[16] After a strong spring training, Smith was chosen as a member of the bullpen for Opening Day. In 2018 with Kansas City he was 1–6 with a 6.92 ERA in 38 games (6 starts), in which he pitched 78 innings.[17]

On November 26, 2018, Smith was designated for assignment.[18]

On January 11, 2019, Smith signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.[19] He was assigned to the San Antonio Missions of the PCL to start the 2019 season, for whom he was 6–3 with a 2.33 ERA in 15 starts, in which he pitched ​77 ¹⁄₃ innings and struck out 85 batters.[17] He had his contract selected to the major leagues on May 5. With the Brewers, he was 0–1 with a 7.82 ERA in ​12 ²⁄₃ innings.[17] On August 9, Smith was designated for assignment.

On August 12, 2019, Smith was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco Giants.[20] With the Sacramento River Cats of the PCL, he was 1–1 with a 4.20 ERA in 15 innings in which he struck out 18 batters.[17] With the Giants, he was 0–0 with a 2.08 ERA in eight innings.[17] Smith was designated for assignment by the Giants on February 10, 2020.

On February 15, 2020, the Giants traded Smith to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for cash considerations. This trade was the first swap involving a major league player between the Bay Area rivals since December 4, 1990, when the Athletics acquired Ernest Riles from the Giants for Darren Lewis and minor league starting pitcher Pedro Pena.[21]

Smith picked up wins in his first two appearances for the Athletics, in which he allowed two hits and a walk in three scoreless innings combined. He was credited with his first career save on August 7, 2020, by throwing the last three innings of a 7–2 win over the Houston Astros, during which he allowed only one hit and no runs. On August 17, Smith was placed on the 10-day injured list with a forearm strain, two days after surrendering his first runs of the season to his former team, the Giants, on a three-run home run. In 6 games for the A's, Smith registered an ERA of 2.25 in 12 innings.