[This article was originally published on September, 29, 2018]
Last year's fourth round pick, Smith had a more than solid professional debut season in 2017, batting .289 with five home runs and a whopping 46 walks in just 57 Gulf Coast League games. A real standout in his first Spring Training camp this year too, 2018 was supposed to be a breakout season for him but it was far from it.
"I definitely struggled a little bit this year," Smith admitted, "but I thought there were a lot of positives as well as some negatives to take out of it. I'm still learning, I'm still young, and I'm just trying to get better each and every day.
"My defense and base running, I felt like I took a big leap in that this year. I'm getting good jumps and good routes. I felt really comfortable out there."
Still, known as a hitter, he batted just .191 in 45 games for the Staten Island Yankees this year. Some it was real struggles for the 19-year old, including some nagging injuries over the course of the season, but some of it was some bad luck too.
"I thought I played really good defense," he listed the positives. "I saved a lot of runs. I thought I hit the ball well [too]. I had good contact and my exit velocity was good but I was just unlucky. I was really unlucky. The ball just didn't fall for me this year."
It is difficult for many to wrap their collective heads around the lower final numbers for Smith, especially given how well he was hitting back in Spring Training camp and early in the Extended Spring Training season. The good news is his confidence hasn't wavered any.
"I'm very confident in my game for sure," he emphasized. "I thought it was going to be a good year and I still think it was a good year [in some respects]. [Batting] average doesn't really tell the whole story. I thought I did okay. I went out there and competed, and I was just unlucky."
There is no denying he did hit his fair share of rockets right at the opposing defense in 2018 but there were also some adjustments that needed to be made too and those are not lost on the Texas native.
"Reacting to offspeed when I was ahead in counts 2-0, 3-1, trying to hit the offspeed pitch because that's what they mainly threw to me," he listed as the hardest adjustment. "I used to just get fastballs [in those counts] and now that I'm moving up I'm not going to get just fastballs."
While he continues to hone his hitting, he is happy about how both his defense and base running are coming along. He credits that to some improved conditioning over the course of the season, an aspect of his game he insists will remain a developmental mantra for the time being.
"It's gotten a lot better since I came to camp. I'm more of a football body. I've always had that playing football all of my life. I'm trying to get more in baseball shape and get faster. I can run a little bit, I just need to get faster.
"I have it [agility], that's in my back pocket. I was coming off an injury [though] and I was trying to hide it earlier in the season and in Extended but once I got healed I felt better."
That was part of his disappointing numbers too. He battled an ankle injury in Extended Spring Training that took away some development time and he also had a quad injury early in the Staten Island season that pumped the brakes almost immediately at the start of the year. In fact, it is fair to say that he was never really 100 percent healthy for any extended period of time in 2018.
"Not really, no," he revealed. "I tried to play through the quad and it was pretty dumb on my part. I should have told my trainer and I put myself in a hole. I wasn't 100 percent at first."
No longer concerned about what happened this year up to this point, Smith is current down in Tampa at Instructs looking to end things on a high note. He knows what he wants to address too.
"My timing right now," he said. "I didn't have many at-bats and I'm trying to get my timing down, get faster, and better routes to the ball on defense. I'm getting there. I'm very confident in my game. I'm relaxed and I'm just taking it day by day, and putting it in God's hands."
Smith isn't too deterred by his less-than-stellar sophomore campaign. He realizes there is work to do but his confidence remains high and he believes there is a lot more success coming his way in the not so distant future.
"Nobody wants to struggle but we all know it's baseball and it's the hardest game in the world. We're going to struggle. Everybody struggles unless you're Mike Trout. I'm kind of glad I struggled a little bit. It humbled me for sure. I'm going to get out there, try harder and prepare better, and get better.
"Finding a routine, sticking to it, and coming back in good shape," he said of his offseason goal. "I want to clear my head and remain confident. My confidence is high. I still believe in my game. We're grown men playing a kid's game. It's fun, I'm always going to make it fun, and just be the best player I can be.
"I feel like my game can skyrocket. I'm only beginning," he concluded.