He went like 1-for-25 with 20Ks or something when he first got here, and got demoted to AAA to work on it without pressure. And he wasn't hitting MOTO at the time.
Now? He's carrying the offense on his broad shoulders, and he's not going back to AAA to work on anything again, probably ever.
So he's gonna have to work it out while being the guy expected to drive in runs, and one of the few in our lineup who can. It's a different kind of pressure.
I think he'll be fine. Smoak is a great hitter, and a laid-back guy. He's not high strung, and not the sort to screw himself into the ground at the first sign of trouble (see Cirillo, Jeff, et al). Last year helped show that, as you said. Moving away from the south for the first time ever, having the trade pressure on him, being demoted, changing the load for his swing...he dealt with a lot last year, and that's just after the trade.
I love seeing him settle in, believing more with every game that he belongs. He's not out of the woods yet, but I don't see how you see him casually take Verlander yard on 97 mph outside and think "nah, that guy's not gonna cut it long-term."
His power is middle out, so I expect teams to start busting him inside hard as Doc suggests was one of Clement's (many) downfalls.
But RH he seems to do better inside than LH, which is interesting since inside pitches to LH hitters aren't the best way to pitch in Smoak's home park. I wish teams luck as they pound him inside as a lefty, he adjusts, and they find out that the RF porch is shorter in the Safe, making that a bad plan too.
It should be a fun cat-n-mouse the whole year long - but I expect Smoak to be the cat in the end.
~G
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