Dominic Smith: Remember me? First baseman homers to continue hot start in camp

JUPITER, Fla. — Dominic Smith has been sleeping particularly well lately, thanks to a new sleep apnea mask, and it would seem unwise to sleep on him in the first-base race.

Smith went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run, his first extra-base hit of camp, in the Mets’ 10-8 exhibition win over the Cardinals on Sunday. He is batting .500 in seven Grapefruit League games and has as many walks as strikeouts (three).

Not a bad way to match a strong start from Pete Alonso, his primary competition in a bid for the first-base job after Smith's bad 2018 season.

“It’s good [to be] finally playing like I know I’m capable of doing,” Smith said. “It’s definitely in there. I haven’t showed it on a consistent basis at the big-league level. It’s pretty fun to be able to showcase it like this.”

Said manager Mickey Callaway: “We were hoping to see this Dom, because this is the Dom we think he can be.”

Smith’s worst game was Saturday, when he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Turns out, he hadn’t used his sleep apnea mask the night before.

“I was just out of it all day,” Smith said. “It was tough to concentrate. I just got it fixed a couple of weeks ago, so I’m trying to use it constantly, every day, and make sure I don’t miss out on a day because every day is important.”   

D’Arnaud returns

Travis d’Arnaud went 1-for-3 as the Mets’ designated hitter Sunday, his first game since Tommy John surgery last April. He’ll DH again Monday against the Astros and get into a back-fields game at catcher at some point this week before doing the same in a major-league game.

“Emotional. I was jittery, nervous,” d’Arnaud said. “But once I put my foot in between the foul lines, I was pretty excited and glad to be back out there.”

If the Mets were to cut d’Arnaud by March 10, they would owe him only 30 days’ worth of his $3.515-million salary. But the club is not considering that option, a source said Sunday. D’Arnaud’s contract doesn’t become fully guaranteed until the start of the regular season. The Mets have said they expect him to be ready for Opening Day.

For now, the goal is merely more at-bats. “We just want to see him,” Callaway said. “We can always extend rehab into the season if we need to. We don’t have a timeline on anything. We just want to see this guy play and get him comfortable. Get him to where he feels like he can compete in a major-league game.”   

Extra bases

Brandon Nimmo will be the Mets’ DH on Monday against the Red Sox, just his second exhibition game . . . Zack Wheeler allowed three runs (four hits, two walks) in 1 2⁄3 innings . . . Luis Guillorme went 2-for-4 with a homer . . . Adeiny Hechavarria homered for his first hit of camp and started at third base. He is an option there if Jed Lowrie (sprained left knee) and Todd Frazier (strained left oblique) aren’t healthy by Opening Day.