Going into Sunday’s series finale with the Phillies, Nationals’ skipper Davey Martinez talked about his first baseman, Dom Smith, his success at the plate overall, and specifically when facing lefties, and the decision to send the 27-year-old infielder out for the 35th game in a row (going back to April 29th ... when he played both ends of a doubleheader).
It’s hard, the manager acknowledged, to sit Smith, especially when the left-hand swinging slugger is hitting .333 against lefties this season, the third-highest average for any NL lefty (with at least 50 plate appearances) against left-handed pitchers.