Dom Smith's Winter Work Paying Off
“This is probably the best I’ve felt in any spring training I’ve been in.."
Image credit: Chris Simon
Dominic Smith has started off camp scorching hot. Love to see that.
Following his two-homer effort in an intrasquad game this week (both came off Max Scherzer, who Smith is 0-for-16 against in the regular season but won’t have to face for a while moving forward), the 26-year-old’s first official at-bat of the spring was a two-run homer, giving the Mets an early 4-0 lead en route to a 6-2 win over Washington.
Quick recap: Luis Guillorme (3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) led off the game with an opposite-field shot of his own, and former Cardinals prospect Nick Plummer also homered in the first. Tomas Nído and Jake Mangum added base hits, as well.
Left-handers Josh Walker, 27, and Alex Claudio, 30, combined for four scoreless innings to start the game (three for Walker), and Rob Zastryzny (29-year-old lefty, last pitched in MLB with the Cubs in 2018), Eric Orze, and Stephen Nogosek all contributed clean frames.
Back to Dom.
Smith would add an RBI triple in the third (J.D. Davis was hit by a pitch in the back in the previous at-bat; he stayed in the game) and struck out in the fifth before exiting the game and speaking with reporters.
“I’m happy with the progress — my swing and everything — but there’s still a lot of work to go,” Smith said from West Palm Beach Saturday night. “It’s something I worked extremely hard for. It’s not surprising or shocking, but I definitely do take pride in the work I did put in.”
“This is probably the best I’ve felt in any spring training I’ve been in,” he said. “I started so early last offseason. I started as soon as the season ended. I was breaking down my swing in October. That’s something I’ve never done before and I think I have a really good idea of how my swing works and how it should work. That’s something in the past that I kinda knew, but now I know.”
Even last season, as Smith was playing through a torn labrum, his approach remained remarkably consistent. The results were completely out of whack, naturally. But Smith’s swing metrics were nearly identical to his high-water mark 2020 season (.316/.377/.616, 166 wRC+ tied for fifth in MLB with Jose Ramírez).
Despite his swing (51.9%, 2020; 52%, 2021), chase (identical 33.5% marks in both seasons), and whiff rates (26% to 27.5%) all remaining even-keeled, Smith’s flyball rate skyrocketed (21.5% to 28.5%) and his line drive rate plummeted (34.8% to 27.6%), as did his pull rate (42.2% to 37.1%).
It’s probably pretty tough to get around on pitches with a hampered shoulder. It’s also arguably what led to Smith sending a ton of balls into the air instead of squaring them up. Finding that plane can’t be easy with such an affliction.
At any rate, Smith starting off camp in the manner that he has can only be described as encouraging. We’ll leave it at that until it counts. After all, it’s only spring training, right?
Yes and no. A guy can hit .600 with 15 spring home runs or throw 20 perfect Grapefruit League innings and it’ll be forgotten by May 1. But in the same respect, the foundation of confidence necessary to continue adapting and thriving through a game rooted in failures starts in February.
Well, March this year. Building block season (condensed version). We’re getting close, friends. LFGM.
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