It was a rough start to the year for Dominic Smith who was hitting just .194 on May 17th before he went on a tear that turned around his season and earned him the Florida State League Player of the Year award. He is currently hitting 305/.355/.418 with a league leading 33 doubles, six homeruns, and league leading 79 RBI.
Over his last 93 games of the season Dom has hit a robust .334/.381/.464 with 35 extra base hits and a respectable 28/53 BB/SO while having only one at bat against a player younger than him. He has played gold glove caliber defense at first base and was recently touted as the best defensive player at his position according to the leagues managers in a Baseball America poll.
The 11th overall pick in 2013, Smith, also won FSL player of the month for June when he hit .352/.397/.472 with 20 RBI in 26 games.
St. Lucie infielder Jeff McNeil who led the league in hitting for a majority of the year was also named to the end-of-the year All-Star team as was the Mets DH/1B Matt Oberste. McNeil is currently second in the league in hitting with his .312 average, first in OBP at .373 and third in hits with 146. He has moved around the infield playing games at shortstop, second base, and some at third.
Oberste has been an afterthought all year thanks to the big bats of Michael Conforto and Smith, though he has held his own hitting .306/.365/.435 in 107 games for St. Lucie. His slash line ranked second, second and fourth respectively in the league. Matt hit 22 doubles, six triples, six homeruns, and knocked in 60 runs.
