To compete for 1B job
definitely learn a lot from A-Gon.”
Growing up in Southern California, Smith watched plenty of Gonzalez, who played five seasons for the Padres and the last five-plus in Los Angeles.
“He’s been one of the best first basemen from my generation growing up. I used to watch him every night, growing up in L.A. So I’m a big A-Gon fan,” Smith said.
“I definitely think it’s going to be an exciting spring training, a new clubhouse dynamic, just a new everything, a fresh start for everybody. So I’m pretty excited what I can learn from him and from everybody.”
It admittedly took “way too long” for Smith to finally learn how to alter his eating habits and maintain his fitness to maximize his baseball career. An overhauled diet and intense workouts all winter back in California — and for about a month in Arizona at the Fischer Institute of Physical Therapy and Performance — led the Mets’ 2013 first-round draft pick to arrive in Florida earlier this month “probably even lighter” than his official 225-pound listing.
“I’m telling people 225, but I’ve weighed myself a couple of times since I’ve been here and it’s lower than that,” Smith said. “I want to play around this weight. I just feel more like an athlete. Every time I came into spring training I’ve always felt like a good baseball player. But this is the first year I’ve felt like a good athlete.
“This is the first time I feel agile, and I’m really excited about that. I just want to go out there and see what I can do.”
What he won’t do, what he can’t do, is revert to the poor eating habits he fell back into last year at Triple-A, even if Gonzalez wins the starting job in camp and Smith winds up in Las Vegas to open the season.
“You can still eat some things sometimes, in small quantities, to treat yourself, as long as you don’t get into the habit of doing it all the time,” Smith said. “I don’t miss too many foods. It’s funny, with my diet, when I do eat bad foods now, it’s just nasty. You don’t really crave them anymore. It just leaves a bad taste. You start to realize how salty and greasy some foods are and you just feel bloated. It makes you want to eat clean even more, period.
“I was never like a sweets guy. I didn’t really eat candy or ice cream or cakes. I was more of a cheesy, greasy eater. I loved cheeseburgers and Mexican food and pizza. Those were my favorites after a game. It was hard in the beginning, but I’ve learned a lot from my time in the big leagues until now and through the offseason, so for 2018, I’m excited and ready to show what I can do.”