SAN DIEGO — Dominic Smith’s last week at the plate is an encouraging sign of better days ahead for the outfielder.
Smith has a .800 slugging percentage over his last seven games, including two home runs, four RBI and two stolen bases in that stretch. Across his last two weeks, Smith has a 1.057 OPS for a notable difference in what we saw from the 25-year-old to start the year.
“He’s staying more within his lower half,” Luis Rojas said of the biggest difference he’s seen from Smith at the plate. “That’s going to give him a chance. He’s not leaving home too soon. The back side is not leaving it too soon where he’s going to be out front and swinging one-handed. We’ve seen that a lot this year.
“Now he’s able to stay back and stay in on pitches, and when he’s impacting the ball, his lower half is committed with his swing,” the Mets manager continued. “So that’s why he’s driving the ball. Two homers this weekend and both have been bombs to dead-center. So that tells you that he’s staying within his lower half.”
For seven weeks and 37 games this season, Dominic Smith endured the longest home-run drought of his major-league career. Throughout that stretch, from April 13 to May 31, Smith saw 13 of his teammates depart for the injured list, including run-producers like Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto. So, it was a bad time for Smith to lose his power at the plate.
But it wasn’t just the power Smith was missing. He slashed .246/.313/.291 with a .604 OPS and 32 strikeouts during that span.
Still, 30-plus games were a small sample size in a 162-game stretch — compounded with the Mets’ stop-and-go nature of their schedule — and Smith started showing signs of improvement in May. The outfielder/first baseman posted a .706 OPS through 25 games last month.
“I just think I’m staying with my process, trying to put together good at-bats and good things are happening,” Smith said. “Earlier in the year, I was hitting the ball just right at people. It just seems to be now, the balls I was hitting right at people are starting to fall.”
Smith’s start to the year is still a sharp contrast to his breakout pandemic season in 2020. Last year he eclipsed career highs in batting average (.316), slugging (.616) and OPS (.993) through 50 games and collected 42 RBI. Even now, as Smith looks more like himself at the plate, his batting average on the season is an underwhelming .260.
Despite the highs and lows, perhaps the most impressive part of Smith’s game this year has been his consistency in left field. The natural first baseman entered Monday with a 1 DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) metric that is in line with the rest of the Mets’ everyday outfielders, a list that currently includes veteran Kevin Pillar, Mason Williams, and Billy McKinney. In no way is Smith comparable to the Jackie Bradley Jr.’s of the world, but he has held his own in left field this season.
“I’m just really proud and excited about this ball club because I know we’re counted out, but we constantly show how good we are and how deep we are,” Smith said.
The Mets, the club that has so far played the fewest number of games in MLB, has dealt with adversity in the form of injuries, postponements, doubleheaders, inappropriate cracks from broadcasters, and multiple benches-clearing quarrels with opposing teams. Smith throughout it all has remained healthy, an extraordinary feat on an injury-depleted Mets team, and kept with his process.
As the Mets (29-23) enter their next series in first place against the last-place Orioles, Smith said he’s happy with his tight-knit group of teammates, but they haven’t reached their potential yet. There’s more work to do.
“The results are showing,” Smith said. “I’m just looking forward to working hard and getting better. There are still things I can improve on. I’m not satisfied because I had a good week. Still a lot of improvement I need. The team knows we got to clean up some things. I think that’s what it takes to be a really competitive playoff team.”
