This seemed so ridiculous that I went to a striking dummy and slapped my book on it with a SMN.
You hit the striking dummy for 133 damage.
On SCH.
Direct hit! You hit the striking dummy for 171 damage.
Critical! You hit the striking dummy for 219 damage.
You hit the striking dummy for 139 damage.
I didn't actually know they didn't do autos automatically. I assumed they did if they were in range after a cast. But I knew it was so little damage that it wasn't worth even testing.