Baseball’s Tanner Smith Selected by San Diego in 15th Round of 2024 Major League Baseball Draft
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University baseball junior right-handed pitcher Tanner Smith has been selected by the San Diego Padres in the 15th round as the 450th overall pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft on Tuesday.
Smith joins junior right-handed pitcher Sean Matson as a selection in this year’s draft. Matson was selected by the Cleveland Guardians in the ninth round as the 265th overall pick in the draft on Monday.
The Crimson features a pair of selections in the MLB Draft for the second straight year after Harvard tallied two picks in 2023 with right-hander Chris Clark in the fifth round to the Los Angeles Angles and right-hander Jay Driver in the ninth round to the Guardians.
During his time at Harvard, Smith tallied 67 strikeouts over 57.2 innings pitched, while holding opponents to a .240 opponent average. As a first-year in 2022, he notched a 5.50 ERA with 38 strikeouts over 34.1 innings pitched. After missing the 2023 season due to injury, Smith returned for the Crimson in 2024, and registered 29 strikeouts over 23.1 innings pitched, while limiting opponents to a .235 average.
Harvard now has 63 MLB Draft selections all-time.
