Photo by Ed Delany
Despite budding prospect Pete Alonso all but penciled in to be the Mets’ Opening Day first baseman, Dominic Smith is attempting to force the Mets hand.
Six months younger than Alonso, there was a time when Smith was viewed as the long-term answer at first base. But after under performing in his first go with the big club, a weight fiasco, showing up late to a preseason game last year and an injury, Smith became a forgotten man.
The Mets brought in Adrian Gonzalez to man first base, and even after his release, New York gave practically everyone but Smith time at the position.
When all was said and done, the 23-year-old appeared in 56 games in the MLB last year, where he hit just .224/.255/.420, albeit without consistent playing time.
Turn the clock to 2019, and Smith is looking like a lean, mean machine with a chip on his shoulder and a bone to pick in Spring Training.
The California native has come to camp 30 lbs. lighter than last year and has been scorching hot at the dish since the preseason began. (His .579 on-base percentage thus far this spring is tied with Colorado’s Ryan McMahon for the MLB lead).
But, it’s a tough spot.
Remember that guy I mentioned earlier, Pete Alonso? He’s been equally impressive so far this spring.
The 24-year-old, coming off a monster season between Double-A and Triple-A last year (which included a trip to the MLB Futures’ Game), has been the talk of the town for months.
Upon arriving in St. Lucie, Alonso has been on the backfields taking reps at first base everyday to improve his defense, which has been one of the few knocks on him since he started his meteoric rise.
His defense has definitely shown the Mets something called pharmakon. From Greek origins, it doesn’t have a direct translation to English, but has a few meanings, a couple of which being remedy and poison.
In the first game of the spring season, Alonso crushed a huge dinger in the first pitch of his first plate appearance which started an absolute craze on Twitter. Rightfully so, it gave the fans a glimpse into what they would hopefully see at Citi Field in the not-so-distant future.
However, in the same game, Alonso’s defense stuck out like a sore thumb when he botched a routine play at first place. The remedy and the poison.
All that aside, Alonso has busted his behind to make sure things like that don’t happen on a regular basis, and from the looks of it, his defense has improved precipitously over the last several months.
So Mets’ fans should be excited about Alonso, he looks like he is going to be a star.
But what about Smith? His numbers so far this spring cannot be ignored. At the plate, he is hitting a hot .500/.579/.688 (8-for-16). That was topped off Sunday with a home run of his own.
Smith is on a mission to prove he’s got the juice and has the first round potential the Mets’ saw when he was 18-years-old and drafted out of high school.
Alonso has been amazing, no doubt, but with Smith performing the way he has, what do the Mets do at first base?
Alonso has yet to debut, and if the Mets keep him down in Triple-A for a few weeks to kick off the season, they get an extra year of control over him. But with the way he’s hit, and with general manager Brodie Van Wagenen saying he wants to see Alonso on the Opening Day roster, what are they to do?
The team has also preached taking the best 25-players back north with them, and if Alonso is part of that group, so be it.
But with the emergence of Smith, do they start him at Triple-A and go with Alonso regardless, or has he done enough to force their hand?
Both players are limited in that first base is their respective dojo’s. Most teams don’t carry two first basemen, especially in the NL. But if they’re both performing, how can you not?
The answer, or answers, are tough.
- You can have Alonso start the year at Triple-A and have Smith man the position until the former is ready to come up several weeks into the year. Thus, showcasing him to other teams for a possible trade, which I think is a likely outcome. Also gaining another year of control for Alonso.
- You can break camp with Alonso and send Smith to Triple-A where he would get regular at-bats, but would be blocked by Alonso.
- You could platoon the players since Alonso is a right-handed hitter and Smith is a lefty, but you risk mitigating overall performance from both, or
- You try Smith out in the outfield and hope you can get him into the lineup on a semi-regular basis. The Mets need a lefty bench bat.
None of these outcomes are simple in the slightest, and I’m sure some of you reading this are seething at the thought of No. 4.
I’ll save you the trouble of yelling at me in the comments and say I think No. 1 is what’s going to happen. New York is confident Alonso becomes a star and if Smith gives them some consistent production, they could possibly swing a deal for him as the season progresses.
It’s just a shame that it had to go down like this, but in a way, it might be a spoil of riches. It’s never bad to have too much depth. And hey, if the Mets do trade Dom, maybe it turns into a Lucas Duda/Ike Davis outcome.
Regardless, the remainder of camp will be fun to watch as the battle continues to be fierce.
