51s' Smith gets aggressive, knocks four hits

Dominic Smith noticed pitchers were attacking him differently during a recent 4-for-25 stretch at the plate. After making a slight adjustment of his own, he got right back to his hot-hitting ways Tuesday.
The Mets' No. 2 prospect matched his career high with four hits and plated three runs in Triple-A Las Vegas' 12-9 win over Albuquerque. Three of those hits -- including two doubles -- came against Isotopes starter Matt Flemer, who Smith went 2-for-3 against in their last meeting on April 29.

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"I was trying to be very aggressive," Smith said. "One of my tendencies is that I like to take the first few pitches. Over the last few days, they've been coming with first-pitch fastballs and then coming back with breaking balls. I wanted to get ahead of that and hit good pitches. I faced [Flemer] last week and had an idea what he'd try to do to get me out. Guys have been trying to get ahead with the fastball, so I [handled] that differently today."
Smith's new approach contrasted perfectly with his opponent's as Flemer (1-3) had walked eight batters in 31 1/3 innings entering the game and 1.99 batters per nine innings over his six-year Minor League career. The 51s jumped on the 26-year-old right-hander for seven runs in the first two frames, and Smith contributed with a first-pitch RBI double the other way in the first inning. He stroked another RBI double to left field on the second pitch he saw in the following frame.

"I don't try to do too much. As part of my swing and approach, I try to take what the pitcher gives me," Smith said. "Anything away or middle-away, I'm not going to try to yank. Later in the game, they tried to come in, and at that point, you kind of know what you're getting."
After using the opposite field in his first two at-bats, Smith led off the fifth with a line-drive single to right and plated his third run of the game with a single the following inning on another liner to right against reliever Nelson Gonzalez. Smith sports an .833/.833/1.167 batting line in six at-bats against Flemer in 2017.
"You definitely feel good when you have days like this," Smith said. "You feel like you get great swings and it's all part of the game. You try to adjust and try to get it back and that's the mode I'm in right now -- stick with an approach."
In doing so, the 6-foot, 250-pound first baseman has raised his season slash to .326/.378/.470 in 143 plate appearances. His average has yet to dip below the .307 mark he entered Tuesday's game at and he hasn't gone more than two games without a hit.
"I like [Vegas]. It's a pretty fair park and you still face really good pitching," Smith said. "The last few weeks have been pretty nice, you hit the ball hard and the ball carries -- it's different than the [Florida State League and Eastern League] the past few years. I've had to adjust to hitting more line drives."
A .296 career hitter in the Minors, Smith has proven his plus hit tool plays at every level of the Minors. After more than doubling his home run total from six in the FSL in 2015 to 14 in the EL last season, the 2013 first-round pick has maintained those power gains with 12 extra-base hits through 33 games -- including eight doubles and three home runs. He might be knocking on the door to the Majors with the Mets struggling to stay healthy -- a possibility Smith prefers not to think about.
"I try to control what I can control," he said. "The Mets are good at promoting guys at the right time. I think our front office does a great job of seeing when guys are ready. I try to take it one day at a time and help the Las Vegas 51s win a championship, and that's all I'm trying to do every day."
Smith wasn't the only offensive standout for Las Vegas. Top Mets prospect Amed Rosario drove in three runs and Josh Rodriguez launched a homer and added three RBIs. Three other 51s -- Brandon Nimmo, Desmond Jennings and Jeff Glenn -- had multiple hits.

Colorado's No. 5 prospectRaimel Tapia extended his hitting streak to 15 games with his first four-hit game of the season while Daniel Castro went 4-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI for Albuquerque. Derrick Gibson homered, doubled twice, scored three times and drove in two.
Kevin McGowan (2-1) picked up the win for the 51s after allowing two runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
Flemer was tagged with eight runs on 11 hits and two walks over five innings.