New York Mets don’t seem to have any plan for Dominic Smith

When it comes to Dominic Smith, the New York Mets look lost on how to use him.

Dominic Smith has become the subject of a Gotye song. The New York Mets first baseman turned outfielder turned bench warmer is now just somebody that we used to know.

Much like Gotye, whose popularity was brief yet constantly in our face, Smith is fading out fast. The Mets didn’t play him much at all this past season, making it quite clear that they’re clueless as to how he should be used.

Smith looked like the future first baseman in Queens. A lackluster 2017 campaign and a disappointing 2018 in the majors and minors changed that. It also doesn’t help that Peter Alonso is now one of the best sluggers on the farm. Smith’s future is dimmer than ever and his employer hasn’t done much to brighten it.

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The attempt to make Smith an outfielder is probably not done yet, but it has stalled. Smith needed to play every day in the outfield to reap the rewards. He didn’t get those repetitions, which could probably cause another oddball error like the one where he collided with shortstop Amed Rosario on a rather routine play. We’ll have to wait until 2019 to see any of this tomfoolery.

Left field is brand new to Smith and the Mets didn’t commit to the process of teaching him this position. Like with anything out of our comfort zone, it takes more than a small taste to grow familiar.

There was a great opportunity to teach Smith this new position without worry of him costing them meaningful games. For whatever reason, they avoided it

Smith played in only 13 games as a left fielder for the Mets in 2018. Among them, only 10 were starts. Altogether, this equaled out to 90 innings. This is hardly enough time to learn a new position.

Planning ahead is a major flaw of this franchise. Add to it their lack of common sense and we have a former top-level prospect lost on the 40-man roster.

There’s time to salvage Smith’s big league life. While he does need to do his part, the Mets must do theirs. This means actually giving him regular at-bats, innings in the field, and a clear mission.

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Is he a first baseman or an outfielder? Is he both? We don’t really know because Smith rarely gets the playing time he needs.