PHOENIX (AP) — Torey Lovullo has said the same phrase several times over the past seven years, even as fans and sometimes reporters rolled their eyes at the Arizona Diamondbacks manager's optimism.
“Pavin Smith can hit,” Lovullo would say.
And on Saturday night, he finally did, injecting some life into the D-backs' slim playoff hopes by smacking a game-ending, two-run homer in the ninth inning for a 5-3 win over the New York Yankees. Entering as a pinch-hitter, the left-hander ripped a cutter from Michael Fulmer over the right-field wall.
The D-backs pulled within four games of Philadelphia for the final NL wild card with seven games remaining.
“I'm never looking to be proven right,” Lovullo said. “I'm just trying to put players in the best position to be successful and when they have success I share it with them. But I do believe Pavin can hit.”
Smith has had an up-and-down career with the D-backs after being selected with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft after a stellar three seasons in college at Virginia. He has a career batting average of .241 with 47 homers, but has been worth exactly 0.0 wins above replacement, according to baseball-reference.com.
The 30-year-old looked like he might finally be ready for his breakout season this spring, but he developed bone spurs in his elbow in March and needed surgery. That knocked him out of action for roughly two months.
He returned to the lineup on June 1, but looked lost at the plate. The low point came on July 9 when he was designated for assignment by the only organization he had ever known. At the time, he was hitting .141.
Smith cleared waivers, meaning 29 other teams didn't think he was worth picking up. Then the D-backs sent him back to Triple-A Reno, where he slowly regained confidence in his swing.
Now he's making big contributions at a critical stage of the season.
“It felt really good,” Smith said. “There were lots of times this year when I didn't feel like I could ever hit again. I think that happens to a lot of people. Just didn't have any timing coming back from the surgery.”
Smith's homer was a crowd-pleaser at Chase Field, where a season-high 47,918 fans were in attendance for the franchise's 25-year anniversary celebration of their 2001 World Series win over the Yankees.
Lovullo said their might have been a little magic in the air for the D-backs since so many franchise legends were in the building, including Luis Gonzalez, whose bloop single off Yankees closer and Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning of Game 7 scored Jay Bell for a 3-2 win.
“Gonzo hit a walk-off about 25 years ago and to be able to do it on the (celebration) night is pretty cool,” Smith said. “It's a full stadium. It was a playoff-like atmosphere. Every pitch felt like it mattered more and to pull it out in the end feels good.”
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