So how ‘bout that D. Smith jr?

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Natty said:

Looks like we found a gem in Smith Jr. He is a hitter. I say keep him 

I’m going to need to see a lot more of Smith before judging him to be a keeper.    He’s a career .747 OPS hitter in the minors, .755 in AAA.    I’m sure he had 14-game stretches in the minors where he hit pretty well.     We shouldn’t make too much of a good first two weeks of the season.  

And honestly, he hasn’t been that good — .278/.304/.444, -0.1 rWAR.     His offensive numbers are better than a lot of his teammates, but that’s not saying a lot, and two weeks is a very small sample.   

[Mayor McCheese]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

I’m going to need to see a lot more of Smith before judging him to be a keeper.    He’s a career .747 OPS hitter in the minors, .755 in AAA.    I’m sure he had 14-game stretches in the minors where he hit pretty well.     We shouldn’t make too much of a good first two weeks of the season.  

And honestly, he hasn’t been that good — .278/.304/.444, -0.1 rWAR.     His offensive numbers are better than a lot of his teammates, but that’s not saying a lot, and two weeks is a very small sample.   

100% Agreed. 

He has at least made himself into an everyday player for the time being.  He made a great catch last night that seemed easy for him. I look forward to seeing him out there and hope he makes the most out of this opportunity.

[jerios55]

Where is he in the 6 year pre-arb, arb, FA part of things?

He has about 60 ML games so I'm guessing this is 2nd year pre-arb and not super 2 eligible (but I'm not sure how confirm any of that).  If he plays well, I think the O's at least keep him through the 3rd cheap pre-arb year.  Also, as others have mentioned, SSS and slightly negative war.  He's worth more to us at this point I'd think,

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, jerios55 said:

Where is he in the 6 year pre-arb, arb, FA part of things?

He has about 60 ML games so I'm guessing this is 2nd year pre-arb and not super 2 eligible (but I'm not sure how confirm any of that).  If he plays well, I think the O's at least keep him through the 3rd cheap pre-arb year.  Also, as others have mentioned, SSS and slightly negative war.  He's worth more to us at this point I'd think,

He has 85 days of major league service coming into this season, so we control him for 6 years unless the rules are changed.   Not arb eligible until 2022.

[jerios55]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

He has 85 days of major league service coming into this season, so we control him for 6 years unless the rules are changed.   Not arb eligible until 2022.

Makes sense.  If so I definitely think they'll use the cheap OF until Hays/Diaz/others force them to move him to 4th or trades.  I think we have him at least all of 19 and most of 2020.

[Aristotelian]

4 hours ago, LA2 said:

You don't like his play in leftfield?

Haven't watched closely to be honest, I just know that we have other OF prospects. His arm doesn't impress and I haven't seen any plus plays from what I have seen. Ideally our OF of the future would be something like Diaz LF, Hays RF, Mullins/McKenna CF.

[BohKnowsBmore]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

I’m going to need to see a lot more of Smith before judging him to be a keeper.    He’s a career .747 OPS hitter in the minors, .755 in AAA.    I’m sure he had 14-game stretches in the minors where he hit pretty well.     We shouldn’t make too much of a good first two weeks of the season.  

And honestly, he hasn’t been that good — .278/.304/.444, -0.1 rWAR.     His offensive numbers are better than a lot of his teammates, but that’s not saying a lot, and two weeks is a very small sample.   

Nice little bump to the middle of that triple slash with three walks so far today. 

[ChrisP]

Trade talk seems silly with a couple of cheap years ahead...

[Natty]

Compare Mullins to Smith...Smith is a much better hitter,  better fielder, and better base stealer...

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

4 hours ago, Natty said:

Compare Mullins to Smith...Smith is a much better hitter,  better fielder, and better base stealer...

Smith needs more playing time to prove he is for real, but in 92 career at bats with the Blue Jays he had an .833 OPS.

Smith hasn't gotten much playing time in his career, but he has produced when given the opportunity. He needs to play everyday until he gives Hyde a reason to bench him. 

[Moose Milligan]

He's been a pleasant surprise so far, but let's not get carried away.  As suggested by other posts here, there's reason to think he's playing a bit over his head right now.

That said, maybe he's coming into his own.  Overall, I'm glad we picked him up and are giving him a chance to show what he can do.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

6 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

He's been a pleasant surprise so far, but let's not get carried away.  As suggested by other posts here, there's reason to think he's playing a bit over his head right now.

That said, maybe he's coming into his own.  Overall, I'm glad we picked him up and are giving him a chance to show what he can do.

If Buck was still here, he would probably insert Trumbo into the outfield when he returns and keep Nunez at DH. And Smith would end up being a 4th outfielder. 

[Moose Milligan]

22 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

If Buck was still here, he would probably insert Trumbo into the outfield when he returns and keep Nunez at DH. And Smith would end up being a 4th outfielder. 

I dunno if Trumbo is ever gonna come back.  Here's hoping he doesn't and we still get to look at DSJR and other future pieces.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I dunno if Trumbo is ever gonna come back.  Here's hoping he doesn't and we still get to look at DSJR and other future pieces.

He has to come back so they can try and trade him for salary relief.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

I dunno if Trumbo is ever gonna come back.  Here's hoping he doesn't and we still get to look at DSJR and other future pieces.

Trumbo’s injury is a lot more serious than the initial diagnosis. I wouldn’t be surprised if he retires after this season.