Justin Smoak: Is the Seattle Mariner Heating Up?

Though the Seattle Mariners suffered a disappointing loss at the hands of the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night, there was something positive that could be taken out of the game. 

In the midst of blowing an 8-1 lead, cleanup hitter Justin Smoak had a 4-5 night with an RBI and a run scored. It was the first four-hit game of his young career and that production is something that the Seattle organization has been hoping to see since he swapped uniforms in the Cliff Lee trade a couple of years ago. The hits might not have come in the power fashion that we're used to seeing, but when your offense is as low caliber as it is, anything is good. 

The question is: Will this hitting display continue for a while? 

With last night's hit parade, Smoak brought his season average up from .186 to .250. Obviously, he's not going to make that drastic of a jump each night, but if he can continue to see the ball as well as he is, it would not be a surprise to see him batting around .300 in no time, and possibly staying there.

It was right around this time last year when Seattle fans got a glimpse of the real Justin Smoak. In a 10-game span in April, he raised his average from .226 to .302 with four home runs and 10 RBI, including three straight games with a homer. He stayed hot for 10 games after that, raising his average as high as .315 as May rolled around. Unfortunately, he cooled down and we saw his average slip down to .218 by the end of July.

It's hard not to get your hopes up when you see him have a game like last night, especially after seeing how capable he is of stringing games together like that last year. This could be the start of another big run for Smoak, and that is crucial if the Mariners want to keep up with the red-hot Rangers. 

This team definitely has the talent to compete with the best of the best. People tend to forget that they were within a half game of first in the AL West in late June last year. They even had the best record for the month of May.

It was no coincidence that their high point was when Smoak was playing his best baseball, and when he started to fall off, the wheels of the team followed suit. 

Smoak will have the night off tonight against Cleveland with a tight hamstring, as manager Eric Wedge just wants to play it safe. He knows that the offensive production flows around his big first baseman and he wants to protect that. 

If he can do that, then Smoak, along with the Mariners offense, will heat up quick.