Smoak off to best start of 8-year career
Blue Jays slugger steady and patient, leading team in home runs and RBIs
Justin Smoak always believed he could be a prolific homerun hitter in the major leagues. And he wasn’t alone.
Nine years ago this week, the pride of Goose Creek, S.C., was touted as a can’t-miss prospect and was treated as such by the Texas Rangers, who selected him 11th overall in the MLB draft.
There have been a lot of rugged and uneven miles logged by the sixfoot-four, 220-pound Blue Jays first baseman since, but Smoak has been producing at career levels this season.
His 15 home runs and 40 RBIs heading into Tuesday’s late game in Oakland are both leading the Jays and in the top-10 in the AL in each category. This is the same Smoak, remember, whom doom-and-gloomers predicted would be a disaster filling the cleats of Edwin Encarnacion at the first-base bag.
He’s only 57 games into his season, but Smoak has been steady and patient at the plate. Rather than trying to force impact on every swing, he’s using that big body to his advantage while developing a better eye for the nasty curve.
“I’m more relaxed than anything,” Smoak said. “I’m comfortable (and) feel good. For me, there were times when I tried to do too much with it. I tried to always drive the ball instead of putting a good swing on it.
“I’ve done a better job of that. If it goes out, it goes out.”
It’s been “going out” rather regularly. Those 15 homers are one more than Smoak hit all of last season and just five shy of his career high (2013). The 40 RBIs are 19 away from his best in that category (2015).
The comparable for Jays fans to digest, given many were despondent when a certain slugger wasn’t re-signed in the off-season, is pitting Smoak vs. Encarnacion. The latter had 10 homers and 22 RBIs for Cleveland before Tuesday’s action.
The doubters will suggest Smoak is just riding a hot streak and eventually will regress to form more in keeping with the bulk of his major league career. But those around the 30-year-old switch-hitter on a daily basis are seeing signs of a different, more mature hitter.
“It just seems like he’s slowing the game down and picking up pitches really well,” Jays catcher Russell Martin said. “It’s definitely fun to see.
“He used to swing a little bit more at breaking balls. Now it looks like he’s letting the ball get a little bit deeper and trusting his hands.”
The breaking ball may have been his Achilles, but so, too, was his unnecessary “swing for the fences” approach. Jays manager John Gibbons said Smoak has shortened his swing, particularly from the left side. The powerful build can take care of the rest.
In this, his eighth season in the big leagues, he’s letting it happen.
“His swing is compact and smooth,” Martin said. “Instead of trying to hit the ball 600 feet, he’s hitting it 420 feet, which is all you need.
“He’s a big boy. He’s swinging at his pitch instead of swinging at the pitcher’s pitch. He’s forcing them to throw strikes in the zone instead of swinging at balls outside of the zone.”
Just as he was touted to be a prolific hitter in the majors, Smoak always felt he had the ability to be a key contributor on a Jays roster full of power hitters. He’s certainly benefiting from being sprung from a first-base platoon and along with Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Kendrys Morales, is part of one of the most dangerous lineups in the AL.
“I’ve always felt that way,” Smoak said. “We’ve had a really good team since I’ve been here so it’s just a matter of everybody doing their part.”
With 10 homers since May 11 (before Tuesday’s game), Smoak sat tied with the Tigers’ J.D. Martinez as the hottest home-run hitter in the AL over that stretch.
“I’ve never seen him this good,” Gibbons said. “We’ve always envisioned that it’s in there and it’s just really coming together for him.
“He’s doing a tremendous job. He’s definitely laying off the bad breaking ball, which used to give him trouble. He’s worked hard at it.”
The hard work has helped cleanse his reputation as an underachiever as well. And that twoyear, US$8.5 million extension he signed last summer to rabid criticism? It’s starting to look like a bargain for a Jays team that took a shot on Smoak living up to all that potential.
“He shouldn’t have signed that contract,” Gibbons said with a laugh. “He’s losing money now.”