The Houston Astros put together quite an interesting offseason. It was a bit of a roller coaster ride for quite a while, largely due to the Alex Bregman sweepstakes which lasted for a few months. The offseason began with the Astros aggressively pursuing a reunion with Bregman, but after a few weeks of trying, it seemed like they accepted they wouldn't re-sign him.
So, they traded Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Isaac Paredes and Cam Smith. Houston also signed Christian Walker to be their first baseman for the time being while Parades and Smith could be the team's future at the corner infield spots.
Eventually, the Astros ended up back in the Bregman sweepstakes, but he signed with the Boston Red Sox, leaving the Astros with Paredes at third base for the time being.
After Smith had an excellent spring, the Astros decided to fast track him to the big leagues while not having a clear place to play him. Houston decided to slot Smith into the starting outfield right out of the gate and it hasn't gone exactly to plan.
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The Astros predictably rushed Cam Smith to the big leagues
During spring training, Smith was incredible. He slashed .342/.419/.711 with four home runs and a triple in 15 games and 38 at-bats for the Astros during spring training. With him swinging like this, it makes sense that the Astros would want to fast-track him, right?
Well, not really. Before spring training, Smith was looked at as a potential second-half call-up, but the likeliest outcome saw him debuting next season. Putting him on the big league roster in the starting lineup at a position he doesn't typically play was bound to go wrong for the Astros. And that's exactly what's happened.
Smith is 2 for 11 with four strikeouts and two singles to begin the season. More often than not, he seems a bit overmatched with the upper half of big league pitching. This outcome seemed very predictable for everybody except those involved in making the decisions for the Astros.
Smith is still incredibly talented and will likely be ready for an everyday role in Houston by the All-Star break, but it seems like he might need a bit more time at Triple-A before he can be an everyday star in Houston.