Astros Doing More Harm Than Good Continuing to Play Young Prospect in MLB

The Houston Astros could be damaging the career of their top prospect by continuing to play him through struggles.

Michael Brauner | Apr 6, 2025

Apr 1, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) catches a fly ball during the second inning against the San Francisco Giants at Daikin Park. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

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Houston Astros

The Houston Astros have not gotten off to a good start this season, sitting now at 3-5 and trying to salvage a series victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon before travel West this week for a huge divisional series against the Seattle Mariners.

Pitching has not been spectacular by any means, but overall it's been quiet bats in untimely spots which have put the Astros in this early season hole. With a combined total of eight runs scored in the five losses, there simply has not been enough offense.

Understandably, some grace should perhaps be given there to a Houston team who is replacing arguably their two most important offensive players this year in what is not quite a full blown rebuild but certainly a re-tooling at the very least.

The Astros need offense, and while established big leaguers are not hitting at a rate the team and fans are accustomed to, there's currently a black hole in the lineup in the team's top prospect.

Despite playing just 32 minor league games, Cam Smith shocked everyone when he made the Opening Day roster on the heels of what was an undeniably massive spring.

After Smith slashed .342/.419/.711 with four home runs and 11 RBI in 15 exhibition games, Houston felt like they had no choice but to give him a chance in the big leagues right out of the gate.

And though Smith got off to a quick start with a single in his first at-bat of his career, he has quickly found out that making the transition to every day MLB player is not as easy as it may have seemed to him when he was mashing the ball all spring.

With another hitless day on Saturday that included three strikeouts, Smith has just two hits over the first six games of his career and has slashed .111/.238/.111 without an RBI and walking just twice compared to nine strikeouts.

There's something to be said about letting Smith figure it out on the job, but it gets to a point where the Astros may be doing more harm than good for the young 22-year-old.

When a prospect is rushed through the minor leagues and faces virtually no adversity until he gets to a Major League level, he doesn't have experience in figuring out how to work through the inevitable ebbs and flows that this game presents at the highest level.

Smith has played just five games even at the Double-A level, seen before camp as someone who potentially had an outside shot at making his debut late this season but more likely 2026.

It's understandable why Houston thought he could help the team now, but barring a major turnaround he clearly is not capable of that yet.

Admitting their mistake and sending Smith back to Double-A would not be the best look this early, though they must weigh the perception versus the development of someone who they believe is a future face of the franchise.

Smith is not in the lineup on Sunday, but team decision makers should think long and hard over the next week as to whether or not Smith is truly ready for this.

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