Silver Slugger caps Smith's transformation

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ARLINGTON -- Josh Smith did hit just .185 in 90 games in 2023. He didn’t enter ‘24, his third big league season, with something to prove, per se.

After all, he’s a utility infielder who knows what his job is. He even jokingly admitted that he probably made the Opening Day roster only because of his defensive versatility.

But he still knew he had to do something different to provide the Rangers with more production in 2024, in whatever role they needed him for. Smith made some offseason adjustments to his swing and his stance, setting himself up to be more centered in the box.

All that work paid off. On Tuesday, the 2024 Silver Slugger Award winners were announced on MLB Network, and Smith secured his first award at the utility position after a career year at the plate. The Silver Slugger Award is presented each year to the top offensive players at each position in each league. They are voted on by the manager and coaches for each MLB club.

This year marks the first time a Ranger has claimed the honor at the utility position since the category was introduced in 2022.

Smith had career highs in all three slash categories (.258/.337/.394), OPS (.731), home runs (13), RBIs (62), walks (46), runs (67), hits (135) and doubles (30) in 2024. He ranked among the American League leaders in hit-by-pitches (fifth, 18), doubles (tied for 17th) and on-base percentage (18th).

Most notably, Smith -- a left-handed batter -- slashed .286/.345/.429 against left-handed pitching. He ranked fourth in the AL in batting average among qualified left-handed hitters against left-handers, behind just Houston’s Yordan Alvarez (.362), Cleveland’s Steven Kwan (.319) and teammate Nathaniel Lowe (.292).

Smith’s season climaxed on Aug. 5, when he launched his first career walk-off home run in the 10th inning against the Astros at Globe Life Field.

Smith earned a starting spot at third base when All-Star Josh Jung landed on the injured list from April 2-July 28 with a right wrist fracture. Smith started at third base for 69 of Texas’ 102 games over that time. Across the entire season, Smith played in a career-high 149 games, making starts at third base (76), shortstop (41), designated hitter (13), left field (four) and right field (one).

Smith got off to a scorching hot start, slashing .293/.392/.469 before the All-Star Game, though he fell short of making it to his first Midsummer Classic.

From 2011-21, the Rangers had three Silver Slugger Award winners. In the past three seasons, Texas has surpassed that number with four, with Smith joining Lowe in ‘22 and Corey Seager and Marcus Semien in ‘23. This is the first time since 2010-12 that the Rangers have had at least one award winner in three consecutive seasons.

“I think as a young player, you want to make an impact to stay in the big leagues,” former Rangers hitting coach Tim Hyers said earlier this season. “I think now, [Smith has] got more of a comfort of, ‘Hey, I can play here and that can help the team win.’ I think that's when the better part of the skill level comes out. When you can kind of relax, and every at-bat isn’t do or die, it's now more using every at-bat to help the team win. I think that’s just the process of learning as a young player.”