SAN FRANCISCO -- Ever since Dominic Smith first got the call to put on a Giants uniform back in June, hitting a ball into McCovey Cove has been on his mind.
“It’s something that you dream of as a kid,” he said. “You first start playing this game, I think we all dream of playing in the big leagues, and dream of playing in the playoffs, the World Series. And one of the most iconic things in all of sports is seeing guys hit the ball into that water.”
You knew it was gone as soon as the ball left Smith’s bat. He squared up a hanging slider and it just kept carrying through right field, zipping over Levi’s Landing at 106.7 mph -- the hardest-hit home run from Smith this season.
The water cannons shot off before the ball even went out. Kayakers scrambled as it landed in McCovey Cove for the 107th Splash Hit by a Giants player in Oracle Park history, the first since April and the first of Smith’s career as his two-run blast served as a catalyst in the Giants’ 15-8 win over the Orioles on Friday night. It was San Francisco’s sixth straight victory.
Smith was in shock. He looked around the ballpark as he rounded the bases, trying to soak in the moment and cherish it as much as he could.
“Pinch me, I must be dreaming,” he thought to himself.
“The list of guys who’ve done it for this franchise,” Smith said. “Some legendary players. … It’s very surreal.”
Smith’s long ball also made it the 12th straight game the Giants have homered in, dating back to Aug. 17. It’s the franchise’s longest such streak in a single season since their 12-game stretch from Sept. 5-17, 2021. Their 24 home runs over the last 12 games are also their most since that same stretch four years ago.
Since signing with the Giants on June 4, Smith has emerged as one of their most productive bats. He’s batting .284 through 54 games -- his highest mark in any season excluding 2020 -- and his .753 OPS is his highest since that season, when he finished fourth best in the NL.
He credits his resurgence this season with getting back to what he does best: hitting the ball all over the field, playing good defense and not trying to do too much. It’s the same formula that Smith says got him drafted.
“I’m just very grateful, very thankful,” he said. “This is all God’s work, His plan. I put in an extreme amount of work in the offseason in years past just trying to figure out who I am as a ballplayer.”
Manager Bob Melvin finds value in Smith as a veteran presence for a young team.
“It’s the type of at-bats he takes,” Melvin said. “For a team that tends to strike out some, he puts the ball in play. Cuts down with two strikes. He knows the situation.”
An example of that was Smith’s sac fly in the first inning with the bases loaded that allowed Willy Adames to score the second run in what would eventually be a four-run opening frame for the Giants.
In the bottom of the seventh, he lined a base hit to right field to bring home Rafael Devers and finish the night 2-for-3 with a walk and four RBIs.
“It’s a professional hitter with a professional at-bat,” Melvin said. “And I think especially our younger guys learn from guys like him.”
But for all the success he’s had with the Giants, the nine-year veteran’s long-term future with the team looks cloudy as free agency looms. He splits time with Rafael Devers, who was acquired via trade just a couple of weeks after Smith signed, at first base. Devers and Wilmer Flores take up the designated hitter role, and top prospect Bryce Eldridge -- also a first baseman/DH -- figures to be in the mix next season.
“We’ll see,” Smith said about his future. “It feels like home every day I walk up. I just cherish taking one day at a time, so it’s home every time I’m here.”