After utterly destroying the California League with the Bakersfield Blaze from 2013-2014, hitting .316/.429/.590 over the two seasons, the Reds sent Marquez Smith to Double-A for the 2015 season to play with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos where he had only seen limited action in the previous two seasons (114 total plate appearances in 2013-2014).
Things got out to a very tough start for the corner infielder, hitting just .231/.329/.291 in April and May. His plate discipline was good in that time frame, but he managed to hit just seven doubles with no triples or home runs over 140 plate appearances. In May the batting average jumped up from .182 in April to .260, but the lack of power was still holding back the overall production for Smith.
In June everything changed for the right handed hitter. Smith hit .312/.384/.494 on the month. In 86 plate appearances he smacked four home runs and added two doubles while also drawing nine walks and striking out just 15 times. He carried that right over into July where he hit .289/.373/.505 with 12 extra-base hits in 110 plate appearances.
A week into August things have been even better for the 30-year-old Smith. With 26 plate appearances, five of his seven hits have gone for extra-bases while posting a line of .368/.538/.684. Smith has walked seven times with four strikeouts to go with the four doubles and triple.
The 2015 season has been a big split of two parts for the right handed hitter. In April and May he had an OPS of just .619 as he struggled to hit for any kind of power, something that’s been a staple of his career and it trickled down into his average as well. Since the calendar flipped over to June his season looks much like the Marquez Smith of the past, hitting .306/.396/.518 in 222 plate appearances with 12 doubles, four triples and seven home runs.
Video
Here’s video from Friday night where Marquez Smith doubled in Jesse Winker in the 8th inning to put Pensacola ahead.