In a move that could've been made a long time ago, the Arizona Diamondbacks have officially designated Pavin Smith for assignment. 

The Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro broke the news after the team defeated the San Diego Padres 3-1. 

Sitting at 46-47, the Diamondbacks elected to recall Ryan Waldschmidt. Officially, this will be his second stint in the big leagues this season.

Smith has been atrocious, and that's putting it lightly. The 30-year-old lefty was hitting just .141 with a -0.9 WAR. This move has been a long time coming, but the Diamondbacks finally pulled the trigger just a few games out from the All-Star break.

Waldschmidt, 23, may take a left-handed bat away from the team, but even as a rookie he gives them far more consistency. The Florida native slashed .259/.314/.357 in his 33 games played from Friday, May 8, to Saturday, June 13.

Waldschmidt wasn't sent back down to the minors for too long, but it was enough of a reset to get him prepared for what should be a permanent roster spot.

Currently one game below .500, the Diamondbacks know they need to get younger and focus on their core prospects if they're ever going to get anywhere in the current landscape of the National League West.

Power isn't a huge element of Waldschmidt's game. He's yet to hit a home run in 112 career at-bats in the majors, but he still has driven in eight runs and sports a .671 OPS. For reference, Smith hit just one homer in 78 at-bats and had an OPS of .428.

Smith has been with the Diamondbacks since 2020, but it's not like he's ever produced at an elite level. Even when he had a career-high 11 home runs in 2021, he still had a -0.2 WAR. The advanced numbers never favored Smith but, for whatever reason, this team decided to keep him around for seven straight seasons.

Arizona is currently 5.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. It's not a stretch to believe they could make the playoffs this season, so moves like these are crucial to their success.

Winning the division would be a long shot, so at this point they just need to keep stacking wins and hope Waldschmidt gives them far more than they were ever getting out of Smith. That's not much to ask for, and that says a lot knowing they're favoring a rookie over a veteran.

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