PORT ST. LUCIE — Dominic Smith issued the challenge, in a friendly manner, at dinner recently with his chief competition for the Mets’ starting first-base job.
This wasn’t Smith daring Pete Alonso to outplay him. Instead, it was one friend telling the other he respected the manner in which he was performing and wanted him to continue, providing an impetus.
“What I encouraged him was to just keep doing your thing, keep putting pressure, let’s make it tough on Brodie [Van Wagenen, general manager] to make a tough decision,” Smith said Saturday. “I feel like if we both keep playing well, who knows what will happen?