Few gamers have turned extra heads in Spring Coaching than Astros prime prospect Cam Smith. Acquired from the Cubs alongside Isaac Paredes and Hayden Wesneski within the Kyle Tucker commerce, Smith was presupposed to be the one member of that trio who would not influence the MLB workforce straight away. The 14th general decide final summer season, he has solely performed 32 minor league video games (simply 5 of which have come above Excessive-A).
Smith couldn’t have finished far more this spring to power the Astros to think about whether or not he ought to break camp. He’s hitting .419 with 4 homers and a triple in 13 contests. He has labored 5 walks whereas placing out eight instances in 36 plate appearances. That efficiency has saved him in huge league camp into the ultimate few days of Spring Coaching. There’s now a practical probability he’ll make the workforce.
“We’re making some robust choices. We wish to put our greatest workforce ahead. We’re having these conversations about Cam Smith,” common supervisor Dana Brown instructed Sports activities Discuss 790. “We predict he’s actually good and we predict he has actually good upside. We’ve got to decide: are we going to start out him within the main leagues, or is he going to the minor leagues? … Make no mistake, I’m not afraid to place this man within the huge leagues. We’re having these discussions proper now. This man is admittedly good.”
The Astros have hinted at that risk with Smith’s current defensive deployments. He was a collegiate third baseman and performed there completely within the minors final summer season. The Astros used him on the scorching nook early this spring. His three most up-to-date appearances have are available proper discipline. That’s a place of higher want within the brief time period.
They’ll give a lot of the third base taking part in time to Paredes. They entered camp with Chas McCormick slated for on a regular basis proper discipline work. He’s coming off a personal-worst .211/.271/.306 displaying over 94 video games. McCormick entered final season as a profession .259/.336/.449 hitter, making him an affordable rebound candidate. He has had a weird spring. McCormick has walked 11 instances with 4 strikeouts in 41 journeys to the plate, however he solely has 4 hits with no house run.
Houston presumably wouldn’t begin getting Smith proper discipline reps in the event that they weren’t severe about him as a short-term MLB choice. That doesn’t assure he’ll break camp. Chandler Rome of The Athletic wrote on March 6 (earlier than Smith had any proper discipline reps this spring) that the Astros supposed to get him taking part in time on the place within the minor leagues. Sending him to Double-A or Triple-A for at the very least a couple of weeks should still be on the desk, however the Astros have already accelerated plans to get Smith in-game outfield work.
If he does power his approach onto the MLB roster, McCormick would profile as a fourth outfielder. He might take at-bats in Jake Meyers’ stead in heart discipline. McCormick might additionally work into left discipline at instances, permitting Houston to often carry Jose Altuve again into second base.
