Ryan Smith Named Double-A South Pitcher of the Week 

The Rocket City Trash Pandas are proud to announce former starting pitcher Ryan Smith has been named the Double-A South Pitcher of the Week for the week ending on September 5, 2021.

The award is the second for Smith this season after previously winning Low-A West Pitcher of the Week honors for Inland Empire on May 23. Smith becomes the third Rocket City pitcher to earn a weekly award, following Kyle Tyler (May 30) and Cooper Criswell (June 20).

Smith made one start for the Trash Pandas last week and pitched a gem on September 2. Facing the Tennessee Smokies in the series opener, Smith was in fine form. He kept the Smokies’ bats at bay for seven scoreless innings, giving up five hits and walking none while recording nine strikeouts, including five of the last six hitters he faced, to earn his second Double-A win in a 9-0 Trash Pandas victory.

On September 4, Smith was promoted to Triple-A Salt Lake and is expected to make his Triple-A debut for the Bees in the coming days. He began the season with Inland Empire and was promoted to High-A Tri-City on June 5 before joining the Trash Pandas on June 28.

For the season, Smith has a combined 7-6 record with a 3.36 ERA (44 ER/107.0 IP) along with 132 strikeouts and just 22 walks over 19 games (18 starts). With the Trash Pandas, Smith made six starts and was 2-2 with a 4.28 ERA (16 ER/33.2 IP) with 36 strikeouts and eight walks.

Smith has spent his entire three-year professional career with the Angels after being selected in the 18th round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Princeton University.

The Trash Pandas (53-49) begin their final road series of the regular season against the Birmingham Barons (56-52) on Tuesday night in Birmingham. First pitch at Regions Field is set for 7:05 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio.