Once again, Josh Smith came into the season not having a position. The infield was set with newly-acquired Jake Burger at first, Marcus Semien at second, Corey Seager at short, and Josh Jung at third.

The outfield was overcrowded with Wyatt Langford, Leody Taveras, Adolis Garcia, and Kevin Pillar. 

And the Rangers had Joc Pederson to DH.

But, of course, Corey Seager was battling injury so Smith started at shortstop on opening day. Here we are, the 00 game of the season, and Smith has played eleven games at first, two at second, eleven at short, eleven at third, two in left, two in center, and one in right. 

He’s Mr Versatile not because of his defense, which is great, but because of his bat. It’s hard to keep him out of the lineup. Especially a lineup as anemic as the Rangers have been. 

In April, Smith batted .303 with an .825 OPS. Like the rest of the Rangers lineup, his bat took May off, slumping to hit .222 for the month with a miniscule .605 OPS.

But the moment the calendar switched to June, Smith’s bat has come alive. He got two doubles on June 1 and has never looked back. So far, he’s hitting .380 for the month with a blistering 1.106 OPS. He’s had six consecutive multi-hit games, and eight multi-hit games out of twelve in June. 

The Rangers offense is starting to gel, and Josh Smith is leading the charge at leadoff. 

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