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Dominic Smith Ends the First Half with a Bang

By Dilip Sridhar

July 12, 2017 8 Comments

Photo by Ed Delany

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.

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