Getting lost in the prospect shuffle isn’t a difficult thing to do, especially once a player creeps past 22 years old and repeats a level. The assembly line continues to churn out players that are newer, younger, shinier.
That’s what happened to Dwight Smith Jr. — the Blue Jays’ 1st round pick (53rd overall) in the 2011 supplemental round — last season in double-A.
Smith, who turned 24 in late October, rode a strong 2014 in high-A to his debut with New Hampshire in 2015, but an overall average season with a .711 OPS earned him a second lap in 2016 (not uncommon throughout the system following the arrival of a new management regime).