TAMPA — As Dominic Smith met with Dr. Steven Shin at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles early last year, all the pain he had experienced began to make sense.
Smith, a non-roster invitee with the Yankees, had been bothered by his right hand for the previous four or five years. He played through soreness, taped himself up and used a wrist widget to limit his hand’s movement. The constant care didn’t prevent the veteran from breaking his hamate bone on a live batting practice swing in January 2024, though.
He underwent surgery a few weeks later.
“When it finally broke, the hand doctor looked at the MRI and said it was pretty damaged,” Smith told the Daily News. “It looked like it could have been either a stress reaction or stress fracture or maybe partially broken for years.”
A Met from 2017-2022, Smith totaled 32 homers, 125 RBI and a .787 OPS from 2019-2021. He’s played just one full big league season since that stretch, though, falling out of favor with the Queens club before joining the Nationals, Cubs, Rays, Red Sox and Reds. The last four teams all employed Smith last season as he tried to bounce back from surgery and continued treatment, though he only reached the majors with Boston and Cincinnati.
Now Smith says his hand is fully healthy for the first time in a while. The clean bill has coincided with a productive spring, giving the first baseman a real chance to make the Yankees’ Opening Day roster as a bench and DH option with Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu injured.
Smith, 29, entered Thursday hitting .297/.289/.857 with three home runs and 12 RBI this spring.
“They say your best ability is availability,” Smith said. “Just to be fully healthy is huge. It makes a difference out on the field. It makes a difference with your confidence in the box.
“To have that in the back of your mind every at-bat because you know the pain you feel with each swing, it takes away some of your aggressiveness and some of your power. So I’m just happy that I’m feeling like myself again.”
Smith said he never made a big deal about his hand prior to surgery, as every team has players grinding through various aches. He felt comfortable discussing it now because he believes the issue is truly behind him.
As for what’s in front of him?
The future could include a return to New York, where Smith enjoyed the best years of his career. He’d certainly welcome that.
“I’m so excited for it if it comes,” Smith said. “It’s out of my control, but just the initial opportunity to come here and play for spring training and compete for a job, it’s every child’s dream to wear these pinstripes. There’s no bigger market, no bigger city, no bigger fanbase, no higher stage, and that’s what we live for.
“To come back, I’m just very thankful and very, very, very excited.”
Smith added that he’d like to help the Yankees win a championship after they fell short last year. He’d also like to remain in a clubhouse where there are plenty of familiar faces.
He already knew Luis Rojas, Pat Roessler and Marcus Stroman from their time with the Mets. Smith was also familiar with Jazz Chisholm Jr., Devin Williams, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Mark Leiter Jr. before signing, and he’s enjoyed getting to know Aaron Boone and James Rowson.
Like most seasoned NRIs, Smith has an opt out deadline approaching, but neither he nor his agent knew the exact date off the tops of their heads. Smith just knew it overlapped with the last few days of spring training, which is starting to wind down.
For now, Smith is not worrying about that. Instead, he’s focused on cracking the Yankees’ roster.
“Whatever decision they make,” Smith said, “I’m just happy that I was able to come here and put on a Yankee uniform and show them what I can do.”