NEW YORK – The return of Francisco Lindor from the injured list on August 24 meant that someone else on the team was about to lose playing time. At first, it was not entirely clear who. The trend that quickly emerged was the loss of Dominic Smith representatives, who was left out of the Mets ’starting lineup Thursday night at Citi Field for the fourth straight game.
That’s how Smith found himself catching a bat in the seventh inning with the two men at the base and the procedures tied up. Smith, who showed his bravery as a pioneer years ago when he first broke into the Major Leagues, hadn’t done much of that sort of thing in recent seasons. But he quickly proved he hasn’t lost touch, pulling a 104-mph single from first baseman Jesus Aguilar’s glove to give the Mets the final lead in a 4-3 victory over the Marlins.
It was the Mets ’fourth straight win, marking the longest streak since May. They were five games behind in the Eastern National League after the Braves won first place in the Rockies on Thursday.
“I always try to be ready, whether I start or get off the bench,” Smith said. “I know how good this team is and I just want to be part of this winning team. Everything I can do to contribute, I will be ready ”.
After Miguel Rojas and Jonathan Villar became the first pair of pitching hitters to break the first pitches in the same game since the Majors began counting pitches in 1988, the Mets and Marlins changed rallies for get a draw in the seventh. That’s when New York threatened consecutive singles Jeff McNeil and Patrick Mazeika, bringing Smith to the plate in place of the pitcher.
Smith, who has struggled to break balls all season, despite establishing himself as one of the best players out of last year’s game, received a steady diet of sliders from Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara. But the right-hander hung the fourth of them on top of the strike zone and Smith threw himself into it, abruptly pulling Aguilar’s glove to end the test.
“I was in the heater two pitches before, I grabbed a good slider and I hit a slider,” Smith said. “It’s just something I did when I played well. Just going back to that, I thought it was good. It felt good not to chase a ball, and I went on strike and hit it hard. It’s something I know I’m capable of, and it was fun to be able to do it tonight. “
Overall, Smith’s season bears no resemblance to his 2020 campaign, which saw him punish breaking balls en route to a .316 / .377 / .616 bar line and 10 homers in 199 appearances. numbers, numbers good enough to get the Mets ’best statistical batter, and strong enough to cause some to wonder if it might even be a better first-round pick than Pete Alonso. Without the advantage of a designated hitter, the Mets switched Smith to left field, where he entered Thursday’s game with the worst outs above the average (-9) of all National League players.
Team officials would have found it more enjoyable if Smith produced on the plate, but was hitting just .245 / .306 / .363 with 11 homers in 461 plate appearances through Thursday, while battling a right wrist ache. . So when it came time for the Mets to decide which player could give up playing time to Lindor, the Mets decided to change McNeil on the left field most nights, which meant extra bench time for Smith.
With this new task came a request from team officials, who wanted Smith to use it to work on his plate approach, specifically on his lower half balance, which affected his ability to achieve off-speed throws. With that in mind, Smith was so pleased with his ability to fire Alcantara’s 1-2 slider below the attacking zone as he severely broke the 2-2 right field of play. .
Smith knows it’s this kind of sequence that can allow him to be a constant offensive producer once again.
“Dom did it in the past, where he probably doesn’t have playing time to start a season, but he goes and works, so when the opportunity comes, he will,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said. “That’s what we saw today.”