SAN DIEGO -- The Diamondbacks designated first baseman Pavin Smith for assignment following their 3-1 win over the Padres on Thursday night and recalled outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt from Triple-A Reno, a source told MLB.com. The club has not yet officially announced the move.
Smith was informed of the move immediately following the game.
It has been a tough year for Smith, who has been unable to get going offensively. The 30-year-old opened the year with a nagging pain in his left elbow, but felt like he was seeing the ball well while playing two of the first three games of the season. He thought the discomfort was something he could play through.
Instead, he wound up needing surgery on the elbow to remove loose bodies and he ended up missing the next two months.
In 89 plate appearances this year, Smith had a slash line of .141/.236/.192. It looked like he might have turned a corner on June 15 when he went 2-for-4 with a home run against the Angels, but his struggles continued after that.
With the Arizona offense underperforming this year, it made it even more difficult to overlook Smith's troubles at the plate. First base as a whole has been a problem for the Diamondbacks ever since Ildemaro Vargas cooled off after his hot start in April.
Smith was the first first-round Draft pick of the current baseball ops department out of Virginia in 2017 and he was well-liked and respected in the clubhouse. To the end, the Diamondbacks continued to believe that he was going to turn things around.
But with the club treading water -- Thursday's win brought them to 46-47 on the season -- they could no longer continue to give Smith at-bats.
This will be the second stint in the big leagues for Waldschmidt, who is ranked as the organization's top prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Waldschmidt appeared in 33 games earlier this season and slashed .259/.314/.357.