Smoak, maybe more fire
DUNEDIN, FLA.— One year ago, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins and manager John Gibbons were talking bravely about the possibility of Justin Smoak being the everyday first baseman once the season started. It seemed just Smoak and mirrors at the time.
The former first-round selection of the Texas Rangers was not having a good spring. The Jays had allowed iconic slugger Edwin Encarnacion to shuffle off to Cleveland, and Gibbons had never seemed to trust the switch-hitting Smoak as a right-handed batter.
But after not starting on opening day, Smoak emerged as an all-star, playing in 158 games and setting all sorts of personal highs, including a .270 average and 38 homers, almost double his previous best.
Smoak had never played every day before — his busiest seasons were in 2012, 2013 and 2015, when he got into 132, 131 and 132 games — and after carrying much of the first-half load for a slumping and injured Jays offence, he slowed down in the final month, seeming to run out of gas. He hit just .183 over the final month, with two homers and six RBIs.
Josh Donaldson spoke recently about how this team will be better and how Smoak is now seeing what it takes to prepare for the everyday grind, instead of a role as a platoon player.
“We all wear down at certain points, but you start to realize the more and more that you do it, what it takes to go out there and perform at a high level each and every day,” Donaldson said.
“Going into a season, and I’m not saying that (Justin) necessarily thought this but, I know how it could be as far as not really expecting to play every day to being that guy where you’re thrown in that role. Now the team’s counting on you. It definitely has its fatigue measures mentally and physically, and I think he’s going to be more prepared for that this season.”
Smoak has one year remaining on the contract he signed after the 2016 all-star break. It is such a bargainbasement deal for the Jays, considering the offensive numbers he produced in 2017. But Smoak needs to be physically and mentally prepared for 162 games in order to earn a shiny new contract.
“One thing that I learned last year, and I did it probably more in the second half, is (not to overdo it in batting practice),” Smoak said.
“Not even BP. It’s cage work. Don’t take a lot of swings. Just kind of feel what you want to feel, then be done. For me, I was a guy in the past that would take 50 swings in the cage, then, ‘one more’ — and it would be 20 more. Try to come up with a routine where you get that feel that you want and then be done with it, so you won’t be in there taking a bunch of swings. Just save some bullets so, once you get to that second half later in the year, it’s that grind stage for everyone.”
As far as his hitting left-handed pitchers, Smoak never understood why Gibbons had been a non-believer in his ability to produce from his natural side. He hit .331 vs. lefties in 2017, with a .977 OPS, 18 walks and 18 strikeouts. Against right-handers, he was .252 with an .856 OPS, 55 walks and 110 strikeouts.
“I’m not saying I’m going to always go over (to the right side) and crush the baseball, but I naturally feel more comfortable in the box than I do left-handed,” the South Carolina native said. “Left-handed is the side I normally work on more than my right side. That’s also something I learned last year. I didn’t take any swings right-handed until we faced a left-handed starter. It was because naturally I feel comfortable there, so why try to make those swings the same when they’re not.”
If Smoak is able to start at first base in over 100 games this year, which seems likely, he will become the first Jays player to start 100-plus games at first base in back-to-back years since Lyle Overbay in 2009-10.
Smoak was asked what it would mean to the Jays to have both himself and third baseman and 2015 AL MVP Josh Donaldson play in 150plus games.
“With all the injuries we had last year, it was tough,” Smoak said. “So I feel like if the majority of our guys that were hurt could stay healthy, I feel like it would have been a different team and it’s going to be a different team this year. If we got guys that can stay healthy and stay on the field, that’s everybody’s goal.”
Donaldson has played 156-plus games in four of his five full seasons, so he can have the final word on how Smoak can navigate the task of playing every day.
“The amount of fatigue that you go through, not just mentally but physically throughout the course of a season, especially when you haven’t had to do that in a few seasons, it takes a toll on you,” Donaldson said. “I think he’s come in with a clear mindset of what it’s going to take in order to get to that point to where he’s going to feel strong — as strong as possible at least — throughout a 162-game season.
“Last year Smoak’s coming in just trying to make the team. Now he’s solidified himself as a guy that’s going to be over there for us playing first base every day and I believe that’s going to give him just that much more confidence.”