In hindsight, maybe the baseball world should have known from the start.
On the night Will Smith made his MLB debut back in June 2019, he hit a walk-off home run.
Ever since, the Dodgers’ franchise catcher has made late-game heroics his most defining characteristic.
And when Dave Roberts was asked if he’s the sport’s most overlooked clutch player, the veteran manager answered with a grin.
“From my biased eyes,” he said, “yeah.”
Indeed, Smith now has five career walk-off dingers. He entered this season with 19 total long balls to either tie the score or take the lead in the seventh inning or later of a regular-season contest. He added two more such bombs in last year’s World Series, including the title-winner in extra innings in Game 7 in Toronto.
And on Saturday, with the Dodgers facing an eighth-inning deficit against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he calmly stepped up to the plate and epitomized what he does best.
On a night he celebrated both his 31st birthday, and a bobblehead giveaway to commemorate last year’s iconic Fall Classic blast, Smith rescued the Dodgers with a two-out, two-run, go-ahead home run, lifting the team to a 3-2 win that secured a season-opening series sweep.
“It’s fun being in those situations,” Smith said afterward. “I just feel prepared. I feel calm. I feel under control and not trying to do too much.”
“Obviously, with Will, there was no panic in his at-bats,” Roberts added.
As usual, the moment was borne from patience and composure –– with Smith fighting off a couple two-strike fastballs from Juan Morillo before launching an elevated 98 mph heater to straightaway center field.
And, as usual, he played the role of unassuming savior as he rounded the bases –– simply pleading for the ball to go as he ran out of the batter’s box, before celebrating with little more than a pump of his fist.
“When you talk about big hits, clutch, Will’s right at the top of the list,” Roberts said. “He doesn’t self-promote. He doesn’t do a whole lot of stuff. But you look back at, even since his rookie debut, hitting a walk-off winning home run. He just has that knack.”
The bigger surprise Saturday was that Smith was even included in the Dodgers’ starting lineup. After catching the first two games of the season, Roberts had originally planned on putting in backup Dalton Rushing.
On Friday night, however, Smith approached Roberts to ask for a third-straight start, joking he “kind of dropped the bobblehead card” after sitting for his stadium-wide giveaway last season.
“He really wanted to be in there tonight on his bobblehead night and said he felt good,” Roberts said. “Proved to be the right decision.”
When Smith hits in clutch spots, it usually is.
According to Baseball Reference’s splits for “late and close” situations –– at-bats in the seventh inning or later when the batting team is tied, ahead by one, or has the tying run at least on deck –– Smith’s career OPS is .927, almost 100 points better than his overall mark.
He said each new success only breeds further confidence.
“When a pitcher’s kind of panicking out there, they feel stressed,” he explained. “But I’m not as stressed as them. Still (feel) calm.”
That was true Saturday, even though Smith began the day feeling off with his swing.
Thus, he spent extra time in the batting cages pregame. He focused specifically on trying to time up velocity. And it paid off as Morillo tried to put him away with a flurry of heaters, allowing him to first stay alive, then save the day again.
“I think it’s just a skill I’ve developed,” he said. “It’s not just me. It’s talking to guys that have done that in big situations, how they handle it.”
As baseball’s most overlooked clutch hitter, perhaps he’s the one who should start giving such lessons.