There’s a pretty clear answer to which Seattle Mariners trade deadline acquisition is making the best first impression with the organization. It’s catcher prospect Boston Smith, who was part of the Mariners’ three-player return in the Aug. 1 trade that sent Luis Castillo to the Chicago White Sox.
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In his first six games with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers, Smith already has five home runs, capped off by a two-homer game Sunday in a 5-2 win over the Amarillo Sod Poodles.
Making it all the more impressive is that the 23-year-old Smith has hit all five of those homers at the Travelers’ home stadium, Dickey Stevens Park in North Little Rock, which is notoriously pitcher-friendly.
Hitting fifth in the order Sunday, Smith put the Travs on the board with a solo shot in the second inning off of Amarillo right-hander Junior Sanchez.
MAKE THAT 4️⃣ HOMERS THIS SERIES😲
Boston Smith goes yard AGAIN! 1-0 Travs pic.twitter.com/nZExazQab9
— Arkansas Travelers (@ARTravs) August 9, 2026
In the eighth inning, the lefty-swinging Smith showed he doesn’t mind facing southpaws, as he crushed a no-doubter way over the fence in right field for a two-run bomb off of Amarillo lefty Will Mabrey – which was his second off of a lefty for Arkansas already.
Smith went 3 for 4 in Sunday’s game, chipping in a single along the way while also catching all nine innings in the Arkansas win.
ANOTHER ONE!🚀
Boston Smith Launches his second of the game! 5-1 Travs! pic.twitter.com/p2Z7oEJoRJ
— Arkansas Travelers (@ARTravs) August 9, 2026
As you might expect, Smith was awarded Texas League Player of the Week honors on Monday.
It’s been quite the whirlwind over the last 14 months for Smith, who was playing for Wright State in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament last June. He was picked last July in the sixth round of the MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals, then was traded in March to the White Sox before even playing a game in the Nationals farm system.
Smith has been on the rise ever since making his pro debut in April with the Single-A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. After just eight games, he was promoted to the High-A Winston-Salem Dash, then was promoted again to the Double-A Birmingham Barons at the beginning of July.
The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Smith has hit better at each stop than the last this season. He hit .267 (8 for 30) with three doubles in his eight Single-A games, then slashed .288/.449/.595 for a 1.044 OPS with 14 homers, two doubles and three triples in 48 games at High-A. Then in 23 games with Birmingham, he slashed .306/.485/.667 for an OPS of 1.152 with eight homers and two doubles. And now in his first six games with Arkansas, he has a .381/.458/1.095 slash for a 1.553 OPS, going 8 for 21 with three walks to five strikeouts.
After going hitless in his Arkansas debut, Smith responded with a homer in each of his next three games. He then went 0 for 2 with a pair of walks on Saturday before racking up a career-high nine total bases in Sunday’s big performance.
Previously: Boston Smith hits first HR with M’s organization
For the year across all four teams, Smith is slashing .297/.450/.626 for a 1.076 OPS with 27 home runs, 67 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Perhaps the best sign about Smith at the plate is that while he has struck out 101 times in 371 plate appearances, he has offset that with 77 walks, resulting in his very strong .450 on-base percentage.
Currently, Smith is the No. 14 prospect in the Mariners system as ranked by MLB Pipeline and is not on the top 100 list for all of baseball. But based on what he’s done already in his short time in the minor leagues, that might be changing by next year.
Then again, maybe he’ll just keep getting promoted right on up to the big leagues. His swing sure looks tailor made for taking aim at the seats in right field at T-Mobile Park.
SEE YA BALL! Boston does it again!💣
4-0 Travs! pic.twitter.com/F5uJWNJVOX
— Arkansas Travelers (@ARTravs) August 8, 2026
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