{"id":288261,"date":"2025-11-13T02:24:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T02:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/288261\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T02:24:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T02:24:10","slug":"as-the-astros-seek-to-firm-up-their-outfield-cam-smith-must-prove-hes-part-of-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/288261\/","title":{"rendered":"As the Astros seek to \u2018firm up\u2019 their outfield, Cam Smith must prove he\u2019s part of it"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS \u2014 Last spring, Cam Smith captivated a clubhouse<\/a>, changed an organization\u2019s plans for his development and swung his way onto the Houston Astros\u2019 Opening Day roster. It is the sort of rise that spurs talk of superstardom, fitting for someone called an \u201caircraft carrier\u201d before even entering the spring training complex.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe talent is off the charts. He could be a star one day. We all know that,\u201d general manager Dana Brown said on Wednesday. \u201cWe saw glimpses of it last year, but we\u2019re going to need him to be more consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown values on-field performance. He is a lifelong scout who believes in rewarding those who produce, even if it sometimes runs counter to convention. Carrying a 22-year-old with 32 games of professional experience on an Opening Day roster certainly counts.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s stupendous showing in Grapefruit League play influenced Brown\u2019s decision to put him on the active roster. Similar scrutiny will follow Smith\u2019s performance this spring, one Brown acknowledged will determine whether the wunderkind will have a roster spot at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would think he comes back and tries to play with more consistency and makes the necessary adjustments, but we have to be open to sending him back to Triple A if he hasn\u2019t turned the corner,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe veteran guys that have done it, have a track record, they\u2019re penciled in. The other guys, I feel like we have to let it play out. See who comes in hot and see who owns it. There\u2019s a lot to be said for guys that work hard in the offseason and then make the necessary adjustments. We\u2019re hoping that Cam does that. If he does that, we\u2019ll be excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Smith does not, it will create myriad questions about the Astros\u2019 outfield configuration.<\/p>\n

That Brown said, without prompt, that Houston needs to \u201cfirm up\u201d its outfield this winter only furthered the intrigue. Then again, just five teams extracted a lower OPS from their outfields last season than Houston\u2019s .665 mark.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Over 134 games, Smith hit .236\/.312\/.358 with nine homers and 51 RBIs. His contributions were worth 1.9 bWAR. (Alex Slitz \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Blaming Smith alone for that misery is disingenuous. Yordan Alvarez appeared in just 48 games while battling various injuries. Center fielder Jake Meyers missed almost two months of his breakout season with a calf strain. His backups, Chas McCormick and Jacob Melton, provided no production in his place.<\/p>\n

Trade deadline acquisition Jes\u00fas S\u00e1nchez, obtained from Miami in part due to Smith\u2019s underperformance, slashed .199\/.269\/.342 in 48 games as an Astro. On Wednesday, Brown said Houston will listen if teams inquire about S\u00e1nchez and his projected $6.5 million arbitration salary.<\/p>\n

If not for the injuries to Meyers and Alvarez, along with S\u00e1nchez\u2019s anemia, Smith likely would\u2019ve been demoted to the minor leagues. He had a .489 OPS in 170 plate appearances after the All-Star break, a span during which he delivered eight extra-base hits.<\/p>\n

The lack of other options made it almost impossible to send Smith to the minor leagues. Brown even shot down the notion in September, maintaining confidence in Smith\u2019s makeup while hanging onto his marvelous defense in right field.<\/p>\n

Few people in the organization have been more bullish on Smith than Brown, the executive who made him the centerpiece of last December\u2019s Kyle Tucker trade. The mere acknowledgment on Wednesday that Smith isn\u2019t assured of a roster spot served as the most newsworthy revelation from Brown\u2019s 40-minute meeting with reporters at The Cosmopolitan hotel.<\/p>\n

Brown said he\u2019s already had conversations with both Smith and \u201chis people who represent him\u201d about the club\u2019s expectations and, presumably, the lack of a guaranteed place on Houston\u2019s Opening Day roster. According to Brown, Smith has been \u201cworking his tail off\u201d to make needed offensive adjustments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he made the club out of spring training, he did a lot of damage to the opposite field. There were times during the course of the season that he became a little pull happy,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe need Cam to stay (up the) middle and opposite field. That\u2019s what we liked about him when he made the club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith is more mature than most 22-year-olds. His makeup amazed most of the veterans in Houston\u2019s clubhouse, as did his stoicism<\/a> and blunt self-assessments in the face of such pronounced struggles. Any fear that Brown\u2019s comments on Wednesday may have disturbed Smith\u2019s psyche feels far-fetched.<\/p>\n

Clearly, though, Smith has moved into a more precarious position within Houston\u2019s organizational hierarchy. For him to get something more secure, Smith\u2019s production must match his prospect status and potential.<\/p>\n

If it doesn\u2019t and Smith must spend substantial time in the minor leagues, it\u2019s worth wondering how Houston will deploy its outfield. Meyers will return in center field, though league sources have indicated there is significant trade interest in him. Does the uncertainty surrounding Smith make it more likely that Houston keeps S\u00e1nchez, a natural right fielder, in hopes he can author a turnaround?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s probably some conversations we\u2019re going to have, maybe with some outfield pieces, we may have to make some decisions of who to start and is there a trade piece in the outfield,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

Brown said on Wednesday that Alvarez will get \u201ca lot more\u201d games in left field, especially at Daikin Park. Jose Altuve will again factor into the left field timeshare, though Brown said he will split time between second base, left field and designated hitter. Rookie Zach Cole received plenty of praise from Brown on Wednesday, too, but would finding another established outfielder be beneficial?<\/p>\n

Smith is one of the few people who can help to answer that question.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to have to make another adjustment and, if he does that, good things will happen,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe think he\u2019s certainly capable of it given the physical talent, the mental skills and mental toughness that he has, we feel like he can make those adjustments.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019re looking forward to him making those adjustments. We want him to be the star player we think he can be when we traded for him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 Last spring, Cam Smith captivated a clubhouse, changed an organization\u2019s plans for his development and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[373,363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-288261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-houston-astros","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}