Mets' Dominic Smith 'went through a ton of things off the field this year that people don’t even know about'

The New York Mets began Wednesday afternoon at 72-39 overall and with the second-best record in all of MLB behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers (76-33), but not everybody associated with the Amazins has enjoyed a stellar summer. 

Popular Mets first baseman and outfielder Dominic Smith was initially optioned to Triple-A Syracuse back on the final day of May amid a frustrating batting slump but was recalled to the big-league roster on June 20. That didn't help him relocate his best form at the highest level, and he was slashing .194/.276/.284/.560 with zero home runs and 17 RBI across 58 games when he went down with a right ankle sprain ahead of last month's All-Star break. 

If all of that was not bad enough, Smith has essentially lost his spot with the Mets to the likes of pre-trade-deadline acquisitions Daniel Vogelbach and Tyler Naquin. New York also added veteran Darin Ruf from the San Francisco Giants. 

For a piece published by Anthony DiComo of the league website, Smith explained ahead of a Tuesday rehab appearance with Triple-A Syracuse that he has taken to journaling to help him process all that is occurred since this past spring. 

"We bottle so many things up as men that we don’t really understand what we’re feeling or how we’re feeling," Smith said. "We just hold a lot of anger, stress, anxiety, different things that we have to get out. I think journaling is big." 

Smith added he is "at peace right now" but didn't always feel that way during what quickly became a season to forget. 

"I went through a ton of things off the field this year that people don’t even know about. … I was never at a point where I wanted to quit … and it wasn’t even like it had to do with baseball stuff," Smith continued during the conversation. "It was just stuff not going my way in life. I just felt like things couldn’t get worse, and then they seemingly did, and it kept snowballing worse and worse. You’re trying to control everything, and you just seem like you can’t control anything." 

Smith would not elaborate on such off-field issues but admitted that attending therapy sessions has been helpful.