By the beginning of August, Mets first base prospect Dominic Smith had already proved many of his doubters wrong with what has been the best offensive season of his career.
He entered into August with an already career-high 12 home runs, and in fact that his twice as many as he hit in 2015 which was his previous high.
But the improvement has been much more than simply showing the power that I knew he had, it’s the fact that he is walking more and striking out less.
For the month of August the 21-year old first baseman hit .379/.463/.534 with ten doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI in 121 plate appearances. The numbers that really stick out are that he walked 17 times compared to only 10 strikeouts, not bad for the second youngest player in the Eastern League.
The B-Mets cleanup hitter since Opening Day, Smith shown why he’s a Top 100 prospect in the sport hitting .303/.370/.460 with 14 home runs and 89 RBI on the season. His BB% is up to 9.5% this year (7.0% in 2015) and his K% at 13,9% is the lowest of career.
First base is an uncertainty for the Mets in 2017 and even more so in 2018 with the injury issues of Lucas Duda and his pending free agency after next season.
I am very confident that Dominic Smith will be ready to answer the call when it comes. When will that call come? I can see Smith pushing the envelope next season when he brings his potent bat to Triple-A Las Vegas and blasts his way onto the big-league team before Summer’s end. This one’s going to be very special.
