How Old Is Canaan Smith-Njigba?
Canaan Smith-Njigba is 22 years old. He was born on April 30, 1999.
Canaan Elijah Smith-Njigba is a professional baseball outfielder who plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Smith-Njigba was a baseball player at Rockwall-Heath High School in Heath, Texas. He has signed a letter of intent to play college baseball for the University of Arkansas.
He gained notoriety during his senior year after being purposely walked 32 times in 24 games, a pace of 1.67 per game.
He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft by the New York Yankees after his senior season.
Smith-Njigba made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Yankees, slashing.289/.430/.422 with five home runs and 28 RBIs in 57 games after signing with the Yankees.
He hit .191 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 45 games with the Staten Island Yankees of the Class A Short Season New York–Penn League in 2018, despite missing time due to injuries.
He received All-Star honors while playing with the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2019. He batted .307/.405/.465 in 124 games, with 11 home runs, 74 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases.
Since the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he did not play in a minor league game in 2020.
Smith-Njigba was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 24, 2021, along with Miguel Yajure, Roansy Contreras, and Maikol Escotto, for Jameson Taillon.
For the bulk of the 2021 season, he was assigned to the Altoona Curve of the Double-A Northeast. At the end of July, he was placed on the disabled list for a short time until being activated in early August.
With a thigh injury, he was placed on the injured list again in mid-August but was activated one month later. He hit .274/.398/.406 in 66 games, with six home runs, forty RBIs, and 13 stolen bases.
Altoona’s season ended in mid-September, and he was promoted to the Triple-A East’s Indianapolis Indians, where he appeared in seven games.