Dominic Smith has hit .330/.382/.500 on the season. Obviously those are great numbers and even more so when you consider how young he is compared to the rest of the league.
Smith has 23 doubles, 12 home runs, 58 RBI and a league leading 118 hits in 89 games for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s.
Smith has always shown the ability to get his hits but he has stepped up this month. He has a .750 slugging in July coupled with a 1.155 OPS. He has four home runs in July. Smith had five home runs in May but is hitting them at a more rapid pace this month.
It is tougher to project to a first baseman in the minor leagues. Smith should have a great glove at first but it is tough to survive at first with being a glove only type players like some other positions. With that said, Smith has continued to show progress as most 22 -year-old hitters tend to do. If he continues to grow the way he has, he should provide the Mets a solid first baseman.
There is some issue for Dominic with his swing. It is very smooth and very sweet to watch, very similar to Michael Conforto in that regard. The knock is his bat is not as fast as his current teammate and highly regarded prospect, Amed Rosario.
Players with more bat speed can tend to get away with more in regards to their lower body movement. Smith will need to use his lower body more and elevate the ball.
Another way of putting this, he can really use analytics to better his swing and improve his production. In a way, he really reminds me of Daniel Murphy in that regard. Murphy went from a straight posture away from the plate to crouched position and close to the plate. Another way he reminds me of Murphy is that he is a very high contact hitter and a low strikeout guy.
Obviously, most would sign on for him to hit like Daniel Murphy is right now but it took Murphy seven years to become the hitter is now. Patience is a virtue especially with prospects. Just because he does not have a great first month in the MLB does not make him a bust.
The future could be very soon folks. The trade deadline is right around the corner and most veterans will be shipped out and most young players like Smith and Rosario will be able to prove themselves. I am very excited for this process.
The Comp to Daniel Murphy is a decent one. I hope he becomes Keith Hernandez-like with his Great defense at 1st & ability to drive in guys without averaging 35+ homeruns a season.
Smith has been hitting over .300 for years and has good plate approach.
There’s no reason to think he won’t be solid big league hitter, that he’ll be just a glove-only first baseman who will lose his job.
The author Dilip Sridhar, isn’t making a whole lot of sense rambling and
lecturing about longer term failure that hasn’t happened, and projecting Murphy’s timetable onto him. This article is a disjointed read. Growing pains are expected. Smith is certainly capable of mechanical and approach adjustments as needed. That’s common sense expectation by and for the astute and composed Smith who has gotten as far as he has through competency, approach and talent,
The biggest issue regarding Smith’s success or failure is maintaining this past offseason’s weight loss and hopefully improving current so-so fitness for improved mobility and ease of movement throughout his career. He still needs to lose additional weight. This was completely overlooked by Sridhar.
What you’re overlooking is Smith’s biggest problem, his power. That’s Dilip’s main point in this article. Your main driving point in thinking he will be a great hitter is his batting average, which just isn’t enough in terms of first base production. Sure he’s had a great week in terms of power, but can that power hold in the entirety of a 162 game mlb season? Time will tell.
Well anyway im the same broken record I’ve been for 2yrs. Dom has power. I for one am glad he continues to use his natural ability to hit a baseball. But I know how many love .240 hitting dude & his 2 for 20 streaks.
My point was the more he uses his legs like Murphy, the better he will be. Not at all projecting Murphy’s timetable, just telling people it’s a process. The weight isn’t too concerning, mainly because most scouts don’t see it as an issue. Now he should definitely change it for a personal level.
Does the power really mean that much? One thing this article doesn’t mention is Smith leading leagues in doubles twice in the minors and leading in RBI’s several times. He’s very similar to Hosmer to be honest. I’d sign up for 18 homers, 40 doubles a .290 BB who can beat the shift and get on base plus very good defense at first….Sounds like our lineup is currently missing this caliber of player.
He doesn’t really beat the shift. He has a very heavy pull % to go along with an absurd groundball rate. He needs to work on that.