{"id":677173,"date":"2026-05-18T09:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/677173\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T09:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:15:14","slug":"cam-smith-is-in-his-own-head-how-do-the-astros-help-him-get-out-of-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/677173\/","title":{"rendered":"Cam Smith is in his own head. How do the Astros help him get out of it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON \u2014 Cam Smith struck out two more times on Friday night, falling deeper into a funk that raises further questions about his place on the Houston Astros roster. Pressure to keep his spot has existed since last winter, when general manager Dana Brown gave Smith no guarantees<\/a> about anything ahead of his second major-league season.<\/p>\n

In response, Smith said everything expected from someone with his maturity and stoicism. Whether that mindset remains intact is becoming a pertinent question. First-year hitting coach Victor Rodriguez is convinced all of Smith\u2019s struggles are self-inflicted. On Friday, a tap on Rodriguez\u2019s shoulder verified the thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey,\u201d Jose Altuve told Rodriguez, \u201cthis kid is struggling mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his day off, Altuve observed Smith throughout Friday night\u2019s 2-0 win against the Texas Rangers. Smith\u2019s mannerisms, swing decisions and demeanor at the plate provided Altuve a clear portrait of his struggles.<\/p>\n

To try to solve them, Rodriguez asked Altuve to attend Smith\u2019s round of early batting practice on Saturday afternoon. Altuve obliged \u2014 and reiterated what Rodriguez has preached to Smith across the first seven weeks of this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t lose your aggressiveness,\u201d Smith said Altuve told him. \u201cThat\u2019s what we saw early on with you, don\u2019t lose it. Don\u2019t be passive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez has tried this tack before. During his four-season stint as the Boston Red Sox\u2019s hitting coach, he brought David Ortiz in for rounds of Pablo Sandoval\u2019s batting practice. Last season in San Diego, Rodriguez called Dustin Pedroia and asked him to lend advice to Padres sensation Jackson Merrill. As a boy, Merrill idolized Pedroia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like Altuve was going to help more,\u201d Rodriguez said on Saturday. \u201cThe same message Altuve is giving to him, I\u2019ve given to him. But Altuve has been there, he\u2019s seen it, he\u2019s Altuve. When it comes from Altuve, you kind of go like, \u2018Whoa. This guy is a future Hall of Famer and he\u2019s telling me this, it works.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n The Astros hope Jose Altuve\u2019s advice will help Cam Smith with his approach at the plate. (Alex Slitz \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201c(If) you have kids and you\u2019re a dad and you tell the kids something that is the right thing, but you bring somebody from another place, he listens to that person more than he listens to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez\u2019s analogy offers a reminder: Smith is still a kid. He turned 23 in February, played just 32 minor-league games before becoming a big leaguer and is still figuring out how to find his footing. \u201cGuys like you are (normally) making those adjustments in the minor leagues against guys your age and experience,\u201d Rodriguez often tells Smith.<\/p>\n

Balancing Smith\u2019s development with the bigger needs of the ballclub is a challenge team officials embraced last season. Circumstances are now more dire. Houston is 10 games below .500 in a make-or-break season for Brown and manager Joe Espada. Injuries have depleted a lineup starved for stability. Smith is not providing it.<\/p>\n

Making Smith the poster child for the malaise is disingenuous, but he is someone Houston expected to slot in the middle of its order all season. Brown calls him an \u201caircraft carrier\u201d for a reason.<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s worth wondering how much longer Smith can appear in the lineup at all. He did not play on Saturday night. He didn\u2019t start on Thursday, either, perhaps portending a change in his status as an everyday player.<\/p>\n

An 0-for-2 showing from the seven-hole on Sunday shaved Smith\u2019s OPS to .604 after 177 plate appearances. Only 23 of the sport\u2019s 172 qualified hitters have a lower one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m obviously not producing, so I\u2019m starting to think more, trying to do more,\u201d Smith said on Saturday. \u201cJust getting away from who I am.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the main thing keeping me down right now is just getting in my own way.\u201d<\/p>\n

To hear Rodriguez describe it, Smith\u2019s work in the batting cage is brilliant. His swing is on time and short. His barrel is staying through the baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he comes here, he\u2019s late,\u201d Rodriguez said near the batter\u2019s box at Daikin Park. \u201cAnd because he\u2019s late, he\u2019s dropping the head of the bat. He\u2019s under the ball. He\u2019s swinging and missing a lot. In there, I can put the machine at 110 (mph), and he\u2019s like whack, whack.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he does there in that cage is completely different than what he does here. What doesn\u2019t allow him to take what he does there to here is mental.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poor batted ball luck isn\u2019t helping \u2014 Smith\u2019s expected batting average is .248 and his expected slugging percentage is .439 \u2014 but this is a bottom-line business that only looks at the .196 average and .314 slugging percentage he has actually posted.<\/p>\n

That Smith boasts some of baseball\u2019s most elite bat speed is sabotaged by a 30.7 percent whiff rate and a 31.7 percent chase rate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I\u2019d like to just simplify each pitch, just commit to an approach and win each pitch instead of saying, \u2018OK, I have to get this many hits to catch up or do this.\u2019 Commit to each pitch, that\u2019s the goal,\u201d Smith said. \u201cJust trying to find my way out, get out of my own way mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team officials must contemplate whether Smith is capable of doing that at the major-league level. Brown resisted demoting Smith during his struggles during the second half of last season. Doing so this season \u2014 Brown\u2019s final under contract \u2014 would bring the sort of brutal optics he can ill afford.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows that if he doesn\u2019t get hits, they\u2019re going to send him somewhere to get hits,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cThere\u2019s pressure (to) get hits. In the minor leagues, there\u2019s no pressure of getting hits. That, I think, is in his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake Meyers\u2019 expected return on Monday in Minneapolis will further slash into Smith\u2019s playing time. If Smith remains on the roster, platooning him with left-handed hitting Zach Cole in right field may be the most logical option, but the depth of Smith\u2019s struggles must at least prompt some thought about whether a stint in Triple-A Sugar Land would be beneficial.<\/p>\n

The absence of any alternatives in Sugar Land cannot be overlooked. \u201cThere\u2019s not a position player on the entire team,\u201d said one rival evaluator who recently scouted the Space Cowboys.<\/p>\n

Altuve\u2019s oblique injury, which he sustained Saturday on an awkward swing, will also force the Astros to play Brice Matthews more at second base, accentuating the need for Smith to remain on the roster as an option in the outfield. That Smith is a Gold Glove-caliber right fielder \u2014 one who entered Sunday worth five Outs Above Average \u2014 is a factor, too.<\/p>\n

Houston can make room for Meyers on the 26-man roster by either optioning seldom-used infielder Shay Whitcomb or making official Altuve\u2019s placement on the injured list. Whitcomb doesn\u2019t play as is, but now that Matthews will become more of a factor on the infield, Whitcomb\u2019s presence here is obsolete.<\/p>\n

More intriguing decisions may loom when either Joey Loperfido or Taylor Trammell is ready to return from the injured list. Neither is on a minor-league rehab assignment yet, perhaps offering Smith a window to stop standing in his own way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2014 Cam Smith struck out two more times on Friday night, falling deeper into a funk that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,11142,1506,462,82],"class_list":["post-677173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fantasy-baseball","tag-houston-astros","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}