Dominic Smith never was able to earn the consistent playing time he coveted with the Mets, but the first baseman is playing just about every day in his first season with the last-place Nationals.
The 28-year-old Smith was back in Flushing with his new team for the second time this season beginning Thursday night, making his 99th appearance in the Nats’ first 103 games.
“It’s been fun. It’s a great group of guys. We’re young. We compete hard,” Smith said before the series opener, when the Mets defeated the Nationals, 2-1, and Smith went 0-for-3 while getting hit by a pitch. “It’s fun to come back playing against this group, and we look forward to playing good baseball, like we have the last couple of weeks.
“It’s been fun going out there and playing every day. I think every player who plays this game dreams of being an everyday player. So when you get the opportunity, you just want to make the most of it and have fun with it. That’s all I’m doing right now. I’m having a tremendous time with this team.”
Smith’s offensive numbers hardly have been eye-popping, entering the series with five home runs, 28 RBIs and a .685 OPS over 390 plate appearances.
He’s also committed five errors with a .994 fielding percentage in 97 games at first base.
The Los Angeles-area native mostly was blocked by All-Star slugger Pete Alonso at that position in recent seasons with the Mets, leading him to playing 183 games in the outfield from 2018-22.
He batted just .198 in 58 games and spent extended stretches in the minor leagues last season, however, and the Mets non-tendered him in November, making him a free agent.
Smith, the Mets’ first-round pick (11th overall) in the 2013 MLB draft, landed a one-year deal with Washington in the offseason worth $2 million, calling the chance for a regular job “a big selling point.”
The Nationals reside in the NL East basement, but they had won six of their previous nine games ahead of their four-game stop this weekend at Citi Field.
“I still have really good friends over there,” Smith said of the Mets. “But I’m just focused on the Nationals and what we can do over here to improve our ball club. This team won the World Series only a few years ago [in 2019].
“I want to help these guys and the organization get back to where we were.”
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