The New York Mets today announced the selection of first baseman Dominic Smith from Serra High School (CA) with the 11th pick of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft.
Smith, 17, who bats and throws lefthanded, hit .493 (33-67) with seven home runs and 38 RBI in 27 games to help Serra to the CIF D3 title this season. The 6-1, 200-pound native of Los Angeles, CA also appeared in six games on the mound for the Cavaliers, going 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA (nine earned runs/30.1 innings) and 44 strikeouts.
Here’s what our draft analyst Teddy Klein had to say about Smith…
Smith has been on the radar a ton, cracking Keith Law’s list as well as others as a likely Mets pick. He’s a good, pure hitting first baseman, but I feel he is a reach at #11, especially with the consensus being he is a first baseman out of high school.
This Californian could possibly be one of the best hitters in the 2013 draft class. Smith projects more as a first baseman than an outfielder, due to his speed, but could play in a corner outfield position. He has above average contact hitting and above average power. He has above average arm strength, which leads to throwing up to 92 miles per hour on the mound. He is committed to University of Southern California.
Personally, I think the comparisons to Todd Helton are perhaps the most valid ones I have heard to this point. He is very athletic and could play an awesome first base if the Mets decide to keep him there. Of course, considering he’s yet another HS pick for this organization, it will be some time before we really get to gauge him.
This might not be, as they say, the sexy pick of the draft… But of course, we would like to welcome Dominic Smith into the New York Mets organization!
Paul DePodesta, Mets VP of Scouting and Development on selecting Smith:
We’re thrilled that we were able to get Dominic tonight. He was a guy that we had followed his last summer. But even before that, our area scout had known Dominic since he was about 12 yrs old, so he was a guy we were really focused on throughout the year. We were really hopeful that he was going to get to us. We think we have a very, very good player – an all around player.
I think he has a chance to be a plus hitter, with plus power, plus defense at first base. Just as important as all of that, this guy’s a really special person. As most of you know, who have been around for the last few years, that means a lot to us. And we think Dominic’s right up there with those guys, and just a really, really good person. He will be a great rep of the Mets.
Tommy Tanous, Mets Director of Amateur Scouting on selecting Smith:
We felt that, going back to last spring into summer, this is one of the most advanced high school hitters you could find. The fact that he bats left-handed is even nicer. You don’t find a swing like this every year. We feel like we put a very offensive player and defensive player into the system. I’ve been scouting 18 years. I don’t think I’ve seen a first baseman play as an amateur that plays this kind of defense. This a well-rounded player.
Forget about being competitive next year if we keep picking high school players.
One, no one really knows at this point if this is ever going to work out. Two, I hope he was the best player available; one must defer to our scouts here. Three, I’m worried he has five or six guys ahead of him that could figure at 1B (Davis, Flores, d’Arnaud, Ad-Rod, Boyd, Plawecki).
Four, the good news, is if he develops, the bat will play because the bat always plays. Five, he’s really really young the good news is there’s a lot of projection. The bad news is he could be 5-6 years away. Six, at 17 he was one of the top five high school bats in the country…that’s never a bad place to start.
Seven, I’m done now.
At that point in the draft, there really wasn’t that impact college bat available. If Colin Moran or someone like that was there, it would be different. His bat is really solid, with tons of power projection. His swing is real nice and according to people close to him he is very mature. His parents said he would be up to queens in 1.5 to 2 years. I can’t see that happening, but I could actually see him contributing in 2016, about 3 years away. He should be up before nimmo or cecchini because he isn’t nearly as raw.
He turns 18 next week i think. Even three years seems to be a rather aggressive route. I mean, it would also mean he’s awesome, so I’d definitely sign up for that. Just not expecting it. 🙂 Maybe four years??
On espns draft chat someone asked when Dominic could contribute to the major league club and one of the writers said about late 2015 to early 2016. That’s only 3 years away. He is only 17 but his skillet is much more advanced than his age indicates. So a player with raw talent like Nimmo could take 5-6 years in the minors a more developed high school player could take 3-4 or less. It’s exciting his projections and for him being so young what he already shows. People around MLB are loving this mets pick not necessarily the other one in the second round on church.
I personally do agree with the assessment that Smith will be ahead of Cecchini and Nimmo. He’s very advanced offensively and can hold his own with the glove.