Smoak’s hot start helping Jays fans forget Encarnacion
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 American League 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.” Smoak’s 15 homers are one more than he hit all of last season and just five shy of his career high (2013). The 40 RBIs are 19 shy of his best in that category (2015).
The comparable for Jays fans is Encarnacion. The latter had 10 homers and 22 RBI 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.”