Ryan Rowland-Smith

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Ryan Benjamin Rowland-Smith (born 26 January 1983) is an Australian former professional baseball pitcher and current television broadcaster for the Seattle Mariners. He made his Major League Baseball debut with Seattle in 2007 and played for the Mariners through 2010, then briefly for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014. He also played in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in 2015 for the EDA Rhinos.

In MLB, Rowland-Smith compiled a 12–17 record with a 4.57 ERA and 229 strikeouts. In the CPBL, he went 1–4 with a 4.70 ERA and 45 strikeouts.

Rowland-Smith represented Australia in the 2004 Olympics, where the team won a silver medal, and he appeared in multiple World Baseball Classic tournaments (2006, 2013, 2017) as well as the 2016 qualifier.

Born in Sydney, he grew up in Newcastle after his parents divorced. His father, Rob Rowland-Smith, is a well-known Australian trainer. Ryan was signed by the Mariners in 2000 out of high school and spent several years in the minor leagues before debuting in the majors. He famously struck out Ken Griffey Jr. in his first big-league at-bat.

He started 2008 in Seattle as a reliever before moving to the starting rotation in August. After a strong 2009 season, 2010 saw him as a regular starter but with limited success, and Seattle did not keep him after the year. He spent the following years in the minors, including time with the Astros, Cubs, and Red Sox organization, before joining the Diamondbacks in 2014. A few years later he played in Taiwan with the EDA Rhinos.

Since retiring from playing, Rowland-Smith has built a career in broadcasting. He joined Root Sports Northwest as a Mariners pre- and post-game commentator in 2017 and has worked as a Mariners radio analyst for ESPN710 Seattle. He expanded to national TV with MLB Network in 2024 and became a Mariners color commentator in 2025, replacing Mike Blowers. He also hosts a podcast called The Top Step and co-founded NxtGen Baseball, a training camp for young players.

Rowland-Smith married American actress Amanda Aardsma in 2013. He is known for his love of surfing and for being the first MLB player to compete with a hyphenated last name in a major league game. He has remained involved with Australia’s national team, including appearances in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and participation in the 2017 tournament before retirement.