Baseball America just released their Midseason Top 100 prospects, and the one thing that immediately jumps out at you is how Mets first base prospect Dominic Smith has been vaulted into the Top 50. Part of the reason for this surprise is the narrative regarding Smith’s 2017 season is that he has been somewhat disappointing.
Of course, when you look at Smith’s numbers, they certainly jump out at you. In 86 games this season, the 2013 first round draft pick is hitting .328/.380/.496 with 23 doubles, a triple, 11 homers, and 57 RBI. Despite being one of the youngest players in the league, Smith is leading the Pacific Coast League with 113 hits. He is also in the top 10 for runs, doubles, total bases, RBI, and batting average.
Much like he did last season, Smith is heating up as we enter the second half of the season. Recently, Smith enjoyed a career high 19 game hitting streak. He responded to losing that hitting streak by having a pair of multiple hit games. Since June 1st, he is hitting .333/.386/.492 with nine doubles, four homers, and 20 RBI. Like he has done every year, Smith has adapted fairly quickly to a new level, and he is beginning to hit much better.
Another player hitting much better of late is Baseball America’s number four prospect Amed Rosario. After recent struggles, Rosario is on a nine game hitting streak where he is hitting .415/.432/.537 with a double, two triples, three RBI, and three stolen bases. More importantly, for a player having some trouble with strikeouts, Rosario has only struck out three times over this nine game stretch.
Certainly, this nine game stretch has reminded us yet again why Rosario is one of the top prospects in all of baseball. It goes a long way towards explaining why he moved up one slot in Baseball America’s mid-season ranking.
Mets Daddy, the ongoing theme with Mets fans is that if a player doesn’t hit every ball off the moon he stinks, has gotten out of control. Maybe we need more hitters like Smith and less hitters like Duda, Bruce, Cabrera, and many other Mets that seem to be high K/power guys? What has that gotten us? The Nats are kicking our butts hitting balls everywhere and over the fence. When are we going to get the message? Maybe a more versatile player that will give you some pop, a very good glove, and also offer “line to line” hitting rather than the “all pull” guys we have now, may benefit this team in the long run?
I asked this question last week of someone: Would you prefer Mark Grace as your starting first baseman or Lucas Duda? Grace is a much better player. I would like the Mets to diversify their team and bring more HITTERS and less SLUGGERS. Understand, a homerun is a 3% occurrence across baseball and waiting for that 3% has killed the Mets offense.
“Part of the reason for this surprise is the narrative regarding Smith’s 2017 season is that he has been somewhat disappointing.”
Duh?
Cabrera and Bruce are producing, but Duda is mostly a dud. It looks like a nice drop in replacement at first base. I think the real question is who gets the boot in the infield. Is it Reyes, Cabrera or Rivera. I think the only right answer there is Reyes. He’s the only legitimate shortstop and their won’t be any comparison comparing average and age when this dingaling club finally brings up Rosario. Yeah, I know that Reyes is hot, but for how long?