With Mets first base prospect Dominic Smith hitting his 15th home run of the season last night against the Memphis Red Birds, the 2013 first round pick has now set career high in homers. Smith’s previous high of 14 was set last year in Double-A with the then Binghamton Mets. Smith set this new personal mark much in the same way he set his old mark – a big second half.
Smith has played in 11 games since the break, and he has been hotter than the Vegas sun hitting .400/.460/.733 with six doubles, three homers, and eight RBI. This is just a continuation of the great July he has been having that has seen Smith hit seven homers with 20 RBI. In addition to the 15 homers being a career high, the seven homers in one month is also a career high for a player who has continued to develop his power throughout his minor league career.
With the Las Vegas 51s having a little more than a month left in the season, and with Smith hitting the way he has been hitting, he is going to put up even bigger home run numbers before the season is through. Really, the only thing that stands in his way from putting up 20 plus homers in Triple-A this year is a call-up to the major leagues. With the way he is hitting and with the trading deadline just six days away, that is becoming a very real possibility.
We need to see him up regardless. I think his glove will help shore up the defense. So even if Mets go off and win 10 in a row & miraculously go back into contention Duda should be traded and Smith needs to be here soon to see if he can be our 1st baseman for next 7 years or so.
Duda has great power and actually flashes a decent glove, albeit with limited range. There is no doubt that Sandy has to make way for Rosario and Smith. If he can get some minor league prospects back all the better.
the only 2 trades that will hurt this team if the mets go on a run are Reed and Bruce. Duda has a decent glove at first, but all scouts on Smith rate him higher defensively so your not missing out there, and obviously he is untested offensively at the MLB level, but duda’s .245 batting average isnt going to be what the mets miss if hes gone. The run scoring of this team will still circle around conforto cespedes and bruce. And may even get stronger with rosario and smith both hitting in the mid 300s at AAA, even if their average drops 80 pts at the big league level they will be on base significantly more then who they are replacing. And for a team that is 2nd in the NL in homeruns… the more men you have on base, the more this team is going to score.