ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Joey Meneses played first base and the outfield in 2022; Where will he play in 2023? (Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats)
As we read the tea leaves minutes after we confirmed the news that Dominic Smith was signing with the Washington Nationals, our first instinct was to tweet that Joey Meneses was going to play left field — thinking Smith to first base. But some of the beat writers were putting it out there that Smith could be the starting left fielder. Sorry, but after watching enough of Smith playing the outfield against the Nats, I was having Josh Willingham flashbacks (no offense to Josh). In 2021, with only 190 chances in left field, Smith was an horrific -10 OAA, and yes, that was the worst in the Majors and Smith was only a part-time player there. He was only playing LF because first base was taken by Pete Alonso. Look, this Nats’ team has had to endure enough poor decisions by management over the years like Luis Garcia at shortstop last year, but if you give two ####s about winning, you have to follow the analytics and the eye test here.
Thankfully, we do not have to wait for Spring Training to have our answer as Smith quickly made the point on a media ZOOM call last night that he was signed by general manager Mike Rizzo to play first base. Whew, good news to get that cleared up quickly. Continue reading
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