D-backs DH Focused On Controlling His Own Destiny

Arizona Diamondbacks DH Pavin Smith is lined up for a large increase in playing time going into 2025. The former first round pick by the D-backs hasn't had the career to this point that many anticipated, however, after a strong 2024 campaign, things look promising for the lefty slugger going forward.

Smith has been a fence player throughout his first 5 years in the big leagues. While he has seen significant time on the major league roster, even getting crucial at-bats during the teams 2023 playoff run, he never quite found his stride for a prolonged period of time.

In 2024 however, the lefty crushed big league pitching, hitting to a 145 OPS+ in a limited sample and finding himself with 9 home runs by season's end. With only 60 games played last season, an OPS of .896 stands out, especially for a hitter with a career OPS of only .698.

Still, his underlying numbers and general approach were fantastic. Not only did Smith take his walks and show an excellent understanding of the strike zone, walking 11.4% of the time, but he also made hard contact consistently. For more on Smith's performance in 2024 check out his season player review.

"It's definitely tough because, you know, opportunities are limited here. You've got to perform to stay here." Smith told Jack Sommers of Diamondbacks ON SI. "So when you aren't playing well, you definitely want to try to figure out why you're not playing well, where sometimes that can kind of spiral you out of control."

Now the Smith will have a much larger opportunity to prove himself going forwards. With the departure of power hitting DH Joc Pederson, a large number of plate appearances have found themselves ripe for the taking. General Manager Mike Hazen has already confirmed that the team would like to see Pavin Smith run away with this opportunity, but he will have to earn his spot.

"I've taken it day by day and just kind of focusing on what I need to do to be better and not really looking too far down the road," said Smith. His emphasis repeatedly landed on control. The fact that not everything is yours to change, and that as a player, he has to adjust, and do what he can to set himself up for success.

The DH says, "Those pitchers get paid to get you out, and sometimes before I thought it was something I was doing wrong when I got out. Now I have kind of a different perspective where maybe I didn't get a good pitch to hit. A different perspective where I'm not looking at video and overanalyzing things, and I'm going more on feel."

When asked about his three-home run game which highlighted his 2024 season, and how his approach differed afterward, Smith's answer was telling.

"Yeah, I think I gave myself that fourth at-bat in Houston to try to hit a home run and then kind of went back to what I was doing. And it's funny because that's the one I didn't hit a home run on. So that doesn't always work. And I get why you can have that tendency, but I am just learning from the past."

He has grown as a player and a person throughout his transitions from the minor-leagues and the majors, and in 2025 Pavin Smith will try and leave his mark on Diamondbacks baseball, and cement himself as a big leaguer.

"Just trying to reign myself in, just try to play the game, and just do what I do."Pavin Smith

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Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Pavin Smith

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