Dominic Smith has huge goals for 2022

What did you plan to do with your 2022 that you haven’t yet? I’m batting about .028 for my plan to do some sort of stretching or yoga every day. That’s the fun of setting goals though, right? You aren’t supposed to hit them. New York Mets first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith probably won’t reach his either.

A former top trade candidate now likely bench piece, Smith is aiming to bat .300 (doable), belt 25-30 home runs (with what at-bats?), and win a Gold Glove (what happened to Pete Alonso)?

I appreciate the optimism. Smith isn’t ready to settle for a part-time role. He’s also not interested in having a bad year. He wants to play like his 2020 self again. This is great for the Mets, but let’s set some more realistic goals for Dominic Smith.

Setting some more realistic goals for Mets 1B/OF Dominic Smith this season

I’m going to let Smith have the bat .300 goal. He did it in 2020. He could have done it in 2019. I think we forget he was a high average guy down in the minor leagues. It’s not an impossibility.

For home runs, it really depends on how much he ends up playing. I think 300 plate appearances are what we could expect from him at a reasonable high. Someone will get hurt for a little while and he’ll be able to boost his season total higher than most bench players. In 2020, Smith hit 10 home runs in 199 plate appearances. In 300, we can give him a nice goal of 15. He has never hit more than 16 at any level as a professional. I don’t expect a power surge from him this season.

Finally, there’s the Gold Glove goal. Alonso had the same idea at first base. And if he’s around, Smith won’t get nearly enough games to win one. The 1999 mistake of Rafael Palmeiro winning one at first base with only 28 games at the position isn’t going to happen again. We have the internet now!

The goal on defense should be to get better. Smith won’t play nearly enough at first base (barring a major injury to Alonso specifically) and the Mets would probably look to add someone else to become their everyday outfielder if one of those guys went down.

An eternal optimist, it’s not a bad thing for Smith to reach high. It’s just not feasible given his role on the roster. Hitting .300 with 15 home runs and playing good defense is still nothing to sneeze at.