ARLINGTON, Texas — It might still be relatively early in the season, but over the last 16 games, Justin Smoak has seen his average rise some 45 points from .173 to .218. But hitting .297 over that span (19-for-64) will do that for the now 25-year-old former Ranger first-round draft pick, who had struggled at the plate for much of the season's first six weeks.
And one of the somewhat overlooked highlights of his current run of good form at the plate came in Sunday's loss to the Angels at Safeco Field when he was credited with the first stolen base of the season and second of his career. The last time he stole a base was on May 8, 2010 when he was a rookie with the Rangers.
"Well, first one this year," Smoak said of his swipe against the Halos. "I had one in Texas when I was there. Of course, they [my teammates] are [giving me grief about it]. It's fun. I told [Rangers coach] Gary Pettis yesterday [Monday], tell [Ron Washington] they'd better hold me on when I get on base. I was giving them a hard time."
The native South Carolinian is of course back in Arlington with the Seattle Mariners to face the Rangers, the same team that drafted him 11th overall in the June 2008 Amateur Draft. And even though he's been returning to the Lone Star State for several seasons now to face the very club that drafted him and that he made his big-league debut for, he admits coming back never gets old.
"Yeah, it's always special I guess because I got drafted by the Rangers and this is where I made my debut. It's always going to be a special place for me to come back to play," Smoak said.
And even though there has been some turnover in the Texas clubhouse since he last played for the Rangers, there are still several former teammates he remains especially close with, so anytime he gets to see them, it's always a nice bonus.
"There's a couple guys [I'm still tight with]. When I first got called up and I didn't really know my way around, Kins[ler] was kind of the guy that showed me around," Smoak said. "I was in Mitch Moreland's wedding this past off-season. [Craig] Gentry, I came up with him in the minor leagues. It's always good to see those guys."
While his bat has been somewhat slow to come around in this, what figures to be his first full season in the big leagues, there is no disputing that the ex-Gamecock is already considered one of the top defensive first sackers in the entire American League, something he credits to Rangers manager Ron Washington and third base coach Dave Anderson, both of whom worked extensively with him while he was in the minors and also after he was called up to the show.
"He [Washington] was always tough on me, which was expected. He's got a lot of passion for the game and he's got a lot of energy. That's something as a young guy you love to see," Smoak said. "[He] honestly taught me a lot about playing defense at first base. Him and Dave Anderson both [taught me a lot]. In the minor leagues, Dave [Anderson] was still the field coordinator and kind of worked with me a lot and once I got called up, he was there. I worked with Dave and Wash a lot. It was always a lot of fun playing for them."
Seattle manager Eric Wedge is definitely glad to see his starting first baseman swinging the lumber better of late, but he added that like many young players on his roster, Justin is currently right in the middle of his big-league learning curve.
"Well, he's a good teammate. He's got a lot of power. He's strong. He's a good first baseman, cares about the right things. When his approach is the way it needs to be, he could impact the baseball and he can impact the baseball to all fields," Wedges said. "But he's right smack dab in the middle of his learning curve right now, like a lot of these young kids are, just needs to consistently have a more consistent mindset up there with his approach and his gameplan. For me, it's not the fundamentals with the hitters. It's more the approach and the mindset, having a gameplan and sticking with it. It's more those intangibles for us right now offensively."
Smoak knows he still has much to learn about how to be a successful and consistent player at the big-league level, but he's also been playing baseball long enough to realize that as long as he sticks to a fairly simple approach, he knows the improvement will continue to come at a relatively steady pace.
"Yeah, I've been here for almost two years now. You're learning stuff every day and believe me, I'm still learning day in and day out. Being a young guy, you've just got to keep working hard, keep giving it your best and keep playing hard," he said.
And part of that process saw him getting sent to Triple-A Tacoma not long after the Rangers traded him to the Mariners in July 2010 as part of the blockbuster deal that landed Cliff Lee in the Lone Star State.
Some young players might have lamented being sent back to the minors after making their big-league debut earlier that same season, but Smoak instead saw returning to the Pacific Coast League as a great opportunity more than anything else.
"Yeah, it was good, something I felt like I needed to take a break and work on some things I needed to work on," he said. "There's still things I'm working on to this day that I've got to get better at. That's something I'm trying to do every day."
