Astros Believe They Have Figured Out Why Cam Smith Is Struggling

The Houston Astros think they have discovered what has been giving Cam Smith issues this season.

Apr 8, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) hits an RBI-triple against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning at T-Mobile Park / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros made headlines when they announced their star prospect Cam Smith had made the Opening Day roster despite never playing a game in Triple-A.

Everything surrounding the 2024 first-round pick has been meteoric, including his time with the Chicago Cubs last year where he had a record-setting home run streak that caused that franchise to aggressively promote him through their pipeline before the season ended.

Smith, the prized return of the Kyle Tucker trade, kept his hot streak going in spring training.

And with there being major question marks about the outfield unit heading into 2025, the Astros made the decision to convert the third base prospect into a right fielder so his bat could be in the lineup.

So far, the decision to put Smith onto the Major League roster hasn't resulted in the output that many expected coming into the year.

Through his seven games, he's gone 3-for-21 with 10 strikeouts, looking overwhelmed at the plate when facing this level of pitching for the first time in his young career. However, he was able to record his first extra-base hit, legging out an RBI triple that helped Houston win on Tuesday night.

There is some thought the Astros made a mistake by calling him up with such little experience in professional baseball, and while that could be the case, the already poor offensive output makes it unlikely they will send him down barring something unforeseen.

With that in mind, Houston has taken a look at what is going on with Smith, and per Chandler Rome of The Athletic, they seem to have diagnosed an issue.

"... Smith's position in the batter's box seemed farther away than at any point during his prolific spring training, leaving him susceptible to pitches thrown on the outer half. Video analysis confirmed the club's suspicions and sent the coaching staff into action," the insider wrote.

The star prospect reportedly wasn't aware he his set up has been off.

It's not uncommon for young players to struggle during their first taste of big league action, but Smith's alarmingly high ground ball rate and strikeout numbers seem to be a result of his positioning in the batter's box that he hadn't had before.

Hopefully these tweaks allow him to get more comfortable

"It's a process. This kid is very talented. He's grinding. He's figuring stuff out," manager Joe Espada said following Tuesday's contest.

Smith will be someone to keep an eye on even further during the coming weeks, because if he can get going at the plate to produce like the Astros expected when they made the headline-grabbing decision to put him on their Opening Day roster, then the outlook of what this team can accomplish changes significantly.

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