Justin Smoak - comparing last year to this year

[PolarVortex]

I was just looking at Smoak's game logs from last season and comparing them to this season.

Last year he hit his 4th homerun on June 18th. This year he hit 4th homerun on May 3rde.
Last night he got his 20th RBI. Last year he got his 20th RBI on July 13th.

Right now he is on pace 105 RBI. Seagar and Cano are also on RBI paces very close to 100. The Mariners have not had a 100 RBI guy since Ibanez in 2008.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

And they're above .500 now! Been playing well the last ten games!

 

[PolarVortex]

And they're above .500 now! Been playing well the last ten games!

yeah. If only the homerfield advantage were a true homefield advantage. When this team returns home, the offense goes to sleep. Deep outfield, marine layer, cold weather in the spring...yada, yada, yada. A true professional wouldn't whine about it. Instead he would adjust his approach at the plate. Save the fucking homerun swiings for the road, or home games in June/July/August/September.

 

[Podunkparte]

yeah. If only the homerfield advantage were a true homefield advantage. When this team returns home, the offense goes to sleep. Deep outfield, marine layer, cold weather in the spring...yada, yada, yada. A true professional wouldn't whine about it. Instead he would adjust his approach at the plate. Save the fucking homerun swiings for the road, or home games in June/July/August/September.

Well Smoak has been hitting more doubles than HR so hopefully we'll see him continue to use the opposite field and the gaps during the homestand.

 

[TDs3nOut]

One of the biggest differences between this year and previous years is that Smoak has evened up his splits as a right handed batter more than he has in the past.

If you look at his spray charts you will see that he has always sprayed the ball around from both sides of the plate, having never really been a strict pull hitter.

Smoak has a lot of potential. Perhaps he can avoid the prolonged slumps that have seemingly characterized him in previous seasons, particularly as a right handed batter.

 

[WizardHawk]

I said I wanted to see at least 100 ab before I commented and as of now he still isn't what we expect from a 1st basemen, but he has been doing better than the rest of his career to date and as long as Miller is still starting on the team I'm not sure I'd concentrate on doing something to get him off the lineup.

 

[johnfree63]

The M's will not make the playoffs until they get an upgrade to Smoak. Your 1B has to be a offensive force. It doesn't matter how good he is defensively at the least important defensive position. 1B have to hit! Smoak just doesn't hit enough. You see how important he is to the lineup when he's on one of his streaks.

Bottom line, if you have Kendrys Morales instead of Smoak, this team makes the playoffs. Even with their other problems.

I agree with another posters point though. You've gotta do something about Miller soon. He can struggle at the plate or struggle in the field but you can't have him struggling at both. It's reached Almonte level of ineptitude.

 

[dude82]

The M's will not make the playoffs until they get an upgrade to Smoak. Your 1B has to be a offensive force. It doesn't matter how good he is defensively at the least important defensive position. 1B have to hit! Smoak just doesn't hit enough. You see how important he is to the lineup when he's on one of his streaks.

Bottom line, if you have Kendrys Morales instead of Smoak, this team makes the playoffs. Even with their other problems.

I agree with another posters point though. You've gotta do something about Miller soon. He can struggle at the plate or struggle in the field but you can't have him struggling at both. It's reached Almonte level of ineptitude.

I don't think he'll be up here much longer if he can't get over the Mendoza Line soon, his defense continues to be inconsistent and Franklin continues to hit the crap out of the ball in Tacoma.

Here's Franklin's line in Tacoma after 84 ABs: .369 AVG., .436(!) OBP, .643(!!) SLG, 1.079(!!!) OPS with 11 of his 31 hits going for extra bases along with 10 walks, 6 homeruns and 22 RBI. I realize that hitting the crap out of the ball in AAA is not the same as even hitting well in the majors, but you can't keep a guy hitting that well down in AAA when the guy he would figure to replace is hitting under .200 and playing inconsistent defense. Miller may have beaten Franklin out in a tight race for the shortstop position coming out of Spring Training, but it's not March anymore, it's mid-May and Franklin's still on fire while Miller is ice cold. Miller's running out of time and he doesn't get the veteran or high priced player benefit of the doubt that prevented so many terrible hitters from getting taken out of the lineup before July in years past.

 

[Mariners_44]

I don't think he'll be up here much longer if he can't get over the Mendoza Line soon, his defense continues to be inconsistent and Franklin continues to hit the crap out of the ball in Tacoma.

Here's Franklin's line in Tacoma after 84 ABs: .369 AVG., .436(!) OBP, .643(!!) SLG, 1.079(!!!) OPS with 11 of his 31 hits going for extra bases along with 10 walks, 6 homeruns and 22 RBI. I realize that hitting the crap out of the ball in AAA is not the same as even hitting well in the majors, but you can't keep a guy hitting that well down in AAA when the guy he would figure to replace is hitting under .200 and playing inconsistent defense. Miller may have beaten Franklin out in a tight race for the shortstop position coming out of Spring Training, but it's not March anymore, it's mid-May and Franklin's still on fire while Miller is ice cold. Miller's running out of time and he doesn't get the veteran or high priced player benefit of the doubt that prevented so many terrible hitters from getting taken out of the lineup before July in years past.

Franklin needs to come up asap!

 

[PolarVortex]

The M's will not make the playoffs until they get an upgrade to Smoak. Your 1B has to be a offensive force. It doesn't matter how good he is defensively at the least important defensive position. 1B have to hit! Smoak just doesn't hit enough. You see how important he is to the lineup when he's on one of his streaks.

Bottom line, if you have Kendrys Morales instead of Smoak, this team makes the playoffs. Even with their other problems.

I agree with another posters point though. You've gotta do something about Miller soon. He can struggle at the plate or struggle in the field but you can't have him struggling at both. It's reached Almonte level of ineptitude.

I think we are all so used to bitching about Smoak that we either don't recognize when he's having a decent season, or don't trust it. But, when compared to other MLB first baseman this year:
he's 10th in RBI (well above average)
he's 17th in runs scored (slightly below average)
and he's 17th in OPS (slightly b elow average)
Defense (way above average)

All things considered, I'm pleased with what he has done so far this season. I'm not convinced he can maintain it, but I'm pleased with it so far.