In The System: Smith-Njigba making the most of opportunities with Altoona

ALTOONA, Pa. -- The trajectory of Altoona outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba's career changed when he was packaged as part of the trade that sent to pitcher Jameson Taillon to the New Yankees in January. Smith-Njigba joined pitchers Roansy Contreras and Miguel Yajure as well as shortstop prospect Maikol Escotto in joining the Pirates organization.

Since then, the 22-year old outfielder has steadily become one of the most consistent bats in the Curve lineup on a day-to-day basis, a lineup that consists of infielders Oneil Cruz, Rodolfo Castro and Mason Martin. Smith-Njigba has quietly raised his batting average to .268 after bottoming out at .200 on June 2nd. 

Following his time at the Mendoza Line, Smith-Njigba went the rest of the month of June landing a hit in 17 of 21 Curve contests and has started the month of July reaching safely in two of the three games played thus far. That consistency has landed him at the top of the order for manager Miguel Perez's team sandwiched typically between Castro and Cruz. 

This is all happening following a lost 2020 season that didn't see Smith-Njigba getting any action or any repetitions at the Yankees' alternative training site, meaning he was meant to fend for himself in regards to figuring out how to make up for lost time.

"I missed out on a lot of reps. You know, baseball, we play every single day," Smith-Njigba said. "So I'm constantly getting reps and constantly finding out who I am as a player. And so that's just it, just missing out on missing out on 1000s and 1000s of reps, but I'm just happy to be playing each day."

Smith-Njigba spent his time away from those daily reps focusing on himself and figuring out who he was both on the field and off.

"Mainly I found out who I am as a person honestly, and doing what I need to do," Smith-Njigba said. "Staying healthy, I want to remain healthy, just like I was in 2019 and just find out my body knowing my limits, pushing myself."

It was that mental growth that helped Smith-Njigba come into the 2021 season with a fresh outlook and ready to take advantage of the new opportunity with the Pirates' organization. 

"I was excited. I was nervous for a different start," Smith-Njigba said. "So it was kind of it was exciting. It was exciting because it was new opportunity. And I was excited to get going."

That excitement has helped him translate and dive into his aggression at the box which has helped lead him to his continued success at the plate.

"I'm staying aggressive. I'm not leaving it up to the umpires right now" Smith-Njigba said. "And I'm just taking it day by day to pitch by pitch and I'm having fun you know, the game's gonna even out I was I went on a cold streak but I'm happy I'm hot right now."

A lot of streaks both good and bad are founded in the way players approach the day-to-day activities they need to make them successful. For Smith-Njigba, he keeps the same routine, same level-headed approach each time he steps foot in the ballpark. 

That routine is rather simple for him to tell it at least. 

"I always come to the field early to activate," Smith-Njigba said. "I hit before batting practice, then before the game I hit again and stay true to my plan. When I get to the game, all that practice I've done before, hopefully, it gives me good results in the game."

It's clear the approach has worked so far for the left-handing hitting Smith-Njigba which could ultimately lead to something he wasn't ever going to get a fair shot at with the Yankees, a chance to advance. The Yankees feature a Major League outfield including Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar just to name a few and well, the Pirates have Bryan Reynolds and Gregory Polanco.

Judge and Torres they are not, but given the depth at the Major League level and below, it's easy to see where there might be a sliver of hope Smith-Njigba can get promoted to at least Triple A by the end of the season. For the Dallas, Tx. native, he's still focused on locking in each day and controlling only what he can control. 

"Just stay the course, man. I can't control that." Smith-Njigba said. "I try to not to try not to even worry about it. I know one day that's gonna come just like I knew one day I was gonna be in Double A or Low A, it's just day by day. When they're ready for me in Triple A, then I'll be there. When they're ready for me in the big leagues, I'll be ready."

MORE PROSPECT NOTES

• Smith-Njigba typically hits between Castro and Cruz, but the rest of the lineup has been putting up some gaudy numbers of late and has been fun to watch according to Smith-Njigba.

"They're amazing. They're truly special. And it's fun to watch and not even just Castro, Cruise and Cal Mitchell," Smith-Njigba said. "lt's Mason Martin, Brendt Citta, it's the whole one through nine. It's really, really amazing to see and it's very fun playing with these guys."

• So about that Mason Martin fella, well the fireworks came early for Martin this weekend as he demonstrated his power in a big way.

But wait, there's more.

Getting this type of power out of someone at first base is something desperately needed by the big club. While that's not saying Martin should be on his way to Pittsburgh now, it does mean there's a chance it's not too far away either should his performance continue as such. - Jarrod

• Right-hander Nick Mears hasn't gotten into a game in the majors yet this year, but he has had a couple of cups of coffee with the big club this year, including this past weekend. While his season stats aren't appealing, he is being weighed down by a couple of dud outings, mostly at the beginning of the season. Since then, he hasn't allowed an earned run in 10 of his last 12 outings. He says that recent success comes from the work he and Joel Hanrahan have done with his curveball. He's not "babying" it by trying to aim it and be precise, and is instead focusing on throwing it hard and ripping it. "As a two pitch guy, you've got to have both your pitches every night," Mears said. "You can't rely on that tertiary pitch to possibly be there that night. You need both pitches every night." - Alex Stumpf

• There's a case to be made that Mitch Keller's results in Indianapolis are secondary to his attitude and how he handles the demotion. He and Hanrahan have had a series of good conversations, and manager Brian Esposito said the game is starting to look more fun to the right-hander. "When a guy comes down, you always wonder how he's going to handle the change," Esposito said. "... He's transitioned very well from where he was in the big leagues now because he understands that there are things that need to be done in order for him to be an effective Major-League pitcher. I think the 'want' to get better, the 'want' to be better than he has been certainly played a big role in how he's had a seamless transition down here to his work." - Alex

•  Back to first basemen who are smashing the ball. Greensboro first baseman Will Matthiessen went 8-for-17 with four doubles and a home run on the Grasshoppers' road trip last week. Matthiessen is now hitting .209 for Greensboro, but fear not, the 6-foot-7 first baseman struggled after being called up from Bradenton as he hit .185 in the first two months of the season. 

Matthiessen is an intriguing prospect as he was both a star pitcher and hitter at Stanford prior to being drafted by the Pirates in 2019. - Jarrod

• It's time for the weekly Santiago Florez portion of our coverage. Florez sat down 18 of the 21 batters he faced in his six innings of work last Thursday for Bradenton. He struck out seven, walked two and retired the first eight batters of the game before issuing a two-out walk. He yielded only one hit on the night and is now 5-1 on the season with a 1.32 ERA. 

Of Florez's nine starts, four of them have been quality starts which is considered a start where the starting pitcher pitches at least six innings and allows three earned runs or fewer. - Jarrod

• We're moving and expanding our rankings section to a separate article. Keep an eye on that.

OFFICIAL LINKS

• Affiliate scores
• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton

YOUR TURN: We'd love to hear from you, too, especially if you make it out to see any of these prospects and affiliates play. Feel free to file your own original scouting reports and other observations in comments.