Cam Smith broke camp with Houston. What to expect.
A compact swing, elite timing, and an Opening Day roster spot. Here's what Aram Leighton and Jack McMullen saw coming.
Ranked No. 15 on Just Baseball's Preseason Top 100 Prospects for 2025 by Aram Leighton.
A friend in a team front office, on the data side, messaged me during spring training:
"Not going lie, it's not until this very second that I learned Correa was 6'4". My brain was like 'surely Smith is taller, that's going to produce some different bat angles.' Nope."
"Your boy made it on the Astros. Bananas."
Even people deep in the game are still sizing up what makes Smith different. We’re a long way from knowing exactly what Cam Smith becomes — but there’s a lot to like already.
Cam Smith just broke camp. I’m not in a place to offer a deep breakdown right now, so I'm turning to the people who do this best — Aram Leighton and Jack McMullen from The Call Up podcast (watch it!) Full credit to them and the Just Baseball team. I'm just putting this in front of Astros fans who might’ve missed it. If you're into prospect evaluation, timing, bat path, and how hitters adjust to pro velocity, go listen to The Call Up.
Cam Smith brings real power with a polished, patient approach. Labeled a bat first third baseman at Florida State, he forced Houston’s hand by slugging .342 with four spring home runs and earning a spot as the Astros' Opening Day right fielder.
Acquired in the Kyle Tucker deal, Smith made an instant impression. His swing is short, explosive, and creates easy bat speed. He’ll need to keep adjusting to pro spin, but his approach is built for it.
Image Source: Chron
Early concerns around Smith’s swing centered on how still he looked at setup. As Aram Leighton put it on The Call Up - A Prospect Podcast:
“The knock on Cam Smith’s swing was it was too stiff.”
But the tape told a different story. Leighton explained:
“We looked at swings time and time again at Florida State — he’s getting the barrel to pitches up and out, down and in, tough spots, wherever it may be.”
“Don’t confuse a still setup for stiffness.”
“When guys aren’t moving much, and they’re big strong guys — and he’s strong — people get worried. Being that still can come off as muscly, not fluid.”
“He can go from where his hands are to violent bat speed so easily, so simply.”
“The whole art of pitching and what big league pitchers do better than any other level of pitcher... is throw off your timing. Get you out of your rhythm. It’s really hard to throw a hitter like Cam Smith off his timing.”
“Very physical and very simple is not usually coinciding with malleable, but that’s why you’ve got to look at each player in a vacuum.”
“Most hitters that would have an operation like Cam Smith would not be able to produce plus bat speed because they don’t have anything going on. They need something to create some momentum, something to get them in rhythm. Cam doesn’t need that and he’s going to generate as much bat speed as just about anybody without that crazy movement.”
That’s the separator. Most hitters need movement to create rhythm or adjust to spin. Smith doesn’t. His swing stays short and direct, with fast hands and no wasted motion. That kind of simplicity forces pitchers to adjust to him, not the other way around.
The transition to right field hasn’t been perfect, but he’s got the tools to make it work. Big arm. Good enough reads. A real athlete:
“He has sneaky wheels, he has a rocket for an arm, and he’s a freaking natural athlete. If right field is open, the Astros are going to let him take it.”
Houston made room because the bat made it impossible not to. What happens next will say a lot.
All quotes are sourced from Aram Leighton and Jack McMullen on The Call Up - A Prospect Podcast.
Watch the episode here
Listen to The Call Up
Just Baseball’s Top 100 Prospects list
Note: The first quote is from a friend in a front office — not Houston. Just a data guy reacting in real time.