Baltimore Orioles: The Disaster In 24 and 29 At-Bats

Baltimore Orioles: Disaster in 29 At-Bats

Dwight Smith Jr.

Over the first three months of the season, the Baltimore Orioles stumbled upon a narrative they could pitch to potential deadline buyers: Smith Jr. was a decent ballplayer. He was the rare Baltimore regular about whom you could fool yourself into thinking, “Gee, he might have a major-league future.”

Through June, he was hitting a good-enough-to-dream-upon .255/.305/.455 with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs. Those aren’t great numbers, but there’s enough competency baked in to warrant a look.

Adjust for a little inflation as Smith Jr. approaches the cusp of his prime, and GM Mike Elias might have been able to sell him to a contender to provide some lefty pop off the bench. He wasn’t likely to get more than a low-level lottery-ticket type of minor leaguer – but even that would be more than they gave up to get him. A net win.

After tonight, however, he is without a hit in his last 32 plate appearances. He has gone from mayyyyyybe an ML-caliber outfielder (if you’ve had a drink or two and squint really hard) – to just another roster-filler on a team full of them. Essentially – and this is a characterization of his on-field production to date and not at all of his value as a human person – he is now worthless.