Cam Smith: Up-And-Coming Dynasty Player

At this time last year, Cam Smith was playing college baseball for the Florida State Seminoles. Fast forward one year and Smith is now playing in the majors, starting in right field for the Houston Astros on Opening Day.

The road to The Show has been quick for Smith, who was not drafted out of high school. Only 22 years old, Smith has played in only 32 minor league games. But after an impressive spring training, he forced his way into the Astros lineup.

Let’s dive in and take a look at Cam Smith.

STATISTICS

The Road to Houston

Since the major league draft was established in 1965, 21 players have gone straight from the draft to the majors. Smith doesn’t fall into that category, but his 32-game stint in the minors makes him one of the quickest players to reach the majors while spending some time in the minors.

The Chicago Cubs selected Smith last June with the 14th overall pick and assigned him to Class A after he signed. He appeared in 15 games at Class A, slashing .313/.404/.771 with 10 runs scored, six homers, 12 RBI and 1 stolen base. Seeing that Class A was not a challenge, the Cubs promoted him to High-A ball. All he did in 12 games was slash .333/.421/.500 with six runs scored, one homer, nine RBI and one steal.

Smith ended the season at Double-A, appearing in five games and slashing .263/.300/.474 with four runs scored and three RBI.

The Trade

This offseason, the Astros decided they were going to be unable to re-sign Kyle Tucker after this season. Instead of letting him walk as a free agent, they found a trade partner in the Cubs. In exchange for Tucker, the Cubs traded two major league players in third baseman Isaac Paredes and pitcher Hayden Wesneski and a minor leaguer. That minor leaguer was Cam Smith.

Paredes plays third base and Smith was a third baseman at Florida State. But there was always the thought that Smith could transition to the outfield as he is athletic and has a strong arm. But the thinking of many was he would learn how to play right field at Triple-A Sugar Land this season, or at least for a month or two.

Instead, Smith’s bat proved too good to stash in the minors. So instead of learning how to play right field in Triple-A, he is now doing so in the majors.

The Tools

• Hitting

Cam Smith showed a little of everything this spring, but the one tool that was on full display was his ability to hit the ball. In 43 plate appearances over 15 games, Smith slashed .342/.419/.711.  Looking at his college and minor league career, that slash line should surprise no one.

After a pedestrian freshman season at FSU in which he slashed .258/.326/.517 with 12 dingers and 36 RBI in 51 games, Smith made adjustments to his swing during the offseason. Those adjustments paid off: as a sophomore he slashed .387/.488/.654 with 16 home runs and 57 RBI to help lead the Seminoles to the College World Series and earn All-America honors.

Smith evolved from a hitter who was pull happy into a player with a quick compact swing, allowing him to hit the ball to all fields. He also has a solid understanding of the strike zone. At Florida State his strikeout rate was 20.6% with an 11.8% walk rate. When you break down his college strikeout rate, it was a not-so-good 28.7% his freshman year. It made a significant drop to 14.9% his sophomore season. Meanwhile, his walk rate went from 9.1% to 13.7%.

In his time in the minors, the strikeout rate fell to 17.9% while the walk rate was 11.2%. During spring training those two rates were 25.6% and 11.6%

• Power

Smith caught the attention of a lot of people when he hit a home run in six straight games at Class A Myrtle Beach before his promotion. But Smith doesn’t swing for the fences. Instead, he uses his 6-3 frame to generate impressive bat speed and he has the ability to consistently barrel the ball, leading to his home runs.

While he has legitimate power, he does hit the ball on the ground quite a bit. He had a 1.90 GB/FB ratio at High-A last year and a GB/FB rate of 1.4 in his five Double-A games. The ground balls may limit Smith to being a 20 to 25 homer player. But if he makes a few more adjustments to lift the ball, he could easily be a 30-homer player.

• Speed

Cam Smith isn’t slow, but stealing bases is not really a part of his game. He had a total of seven steals in college and added two in the minors. He will be able to take the extra base when needed, which may allow him to score a few more runs. But if you are looking to Smith to help add steals to your team, you will be disappointed.

The Verdict

This offseason I targeted Cam Smith in every league I play in, though I was not able to snag him in all of those leagues. I was not expecting Smith to make the Opening Day roster, so that was a bonus. If you want to watch a lot of great highlights of Smith, you can watch them here.

Smith is going to be a successful hitter in the majors. I love his swing and approach at the plate and he is able to make adjustments. And when it comes to Smith, I am not the only one who loves him. In the Razzball Staff Picks, six of us, including Grey and Itch, have picked Smith to the AL Rookie of the Year. In the words of Grey, “He is perfection at the plate and we might be looking at the number one prospect in baseball for fantasy. Grab him everywhere.”

Thanks for reading and come back next week!