Another day, another dinger for New York Mets first baseman Dominic Smith. After closing out the 2019 season with a walk-off three-run blast against the Braves, Smith has rediscovered his power stroke during Summer Camp.
After going deep during a team scrimmage earlier in the week, Smith, 25, took right-hander Marcus Stroman yard during the third inning of Friday’s intrasquad game at Citi Field. Clearly, the Los Angeles product is gearing up to continue his tenure as the ultimate team player.
Blocked at his natural position for the foreseeable future by Pete Alonso, the former first-round draft pick assimilated into a part-time role with the Mets seamlessly last season, hitting .282/.355/.525 with 11 homers, 10 doubles, 25 RBIs, and 133 wRC+ over 197 plate appearances.
Smith even successfully lobbied Mets brass to let him take reps in the outfield. It was an adventure at times, but the 25-year-old’s confidence in himself shone through.
Before landing on the injured list with a stress fracture in his right foot in July, Smith had nestled himself into a pivotal role on this team. With depth appearing to be the name of the game for this upcoming, drastically truncated 2020 season, the more weapons the Mets have, the better.
Stroman’s second home run allowed in the third on Friday afternoon was off the bat of Amed Rosario. That’s an encouraging sign for the 24-year-old, as was his solid year at the plate last year (.287/.323/.432, 30 doubles, seven triples, 15 homers, 100 wRC+).
Though, if you look closely, Rosario’s been giving off promising vibes for a while, now.
Since July 1, 2018, the Dominican native’s hit .280/.317/.420. Over the second half last season (.319/.351/.453, 114 wRC+), no major leaguer notched more singles than Rosario (68), and his 91 overall hits over that span ranked fourth among the same group.
Without the pitcher hitting in the National League this season, Rosario holding down the nine-hole in the Mets’ batting order could be a boon for all parties involved.
Aside from the fact he’s excelled at the bottom-end of the lineup (42-for-115 in the eighth-and-ninth spots last season), Rosario setting the table for the likes of Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, Alonso, and Yoenis Cespedes is an exciting prospect.
Depth is going to be key in this unprecedented season. It appears the Mets have that box checked off on the offensive side of the chalk.
