Houston Astros Star Rookie Is Blowing Away All Expectations Defensively

The Houston Astros knew that they were taking a major risk with the changes being made to their defensive alignment heading into the 2025 MLB regular season.

What was conceived originally as a plan to make things fit, should Alex Bregman be re-signed, the Astros tossed around the idea of moving second baseman Jose Altuve to left field.

Despite Bregman deciding to sign with the Boston Red Sox in free agency, Houston went through with that plan. He has been the starting left fielder, where he isn’t setting the world on fire but isn’t hurting the team too much either.

However, Altuve wasn’t the only infielder who was transitioning to the grass this spring training.

With a hot bat basically forcing the organization’s hand to put him on the Opening Day roster, it was star prospect Cam Smith who was in right field for the first game of the season.

He was the crown jewel of the return package from the Chicago Cubs in the Kyle Tucker blockbuster trade. A first-round pick in the 2024 MLB draft, he was a third baseman but made the transition to right field because the team already had Isaac Paredes at the hot corner.

It was a massive risk flanking center fielder Jake Meyers with two players that were learning how to play the corner outfield spots on the fly.

But, through the first 23 games of the season, Smith has exceeded all expectations and is turning himself into a quality defender.

He is allowing his baseball instincts and athleticism to adjust to the outfield, where he has time to react to balls in play. At third base, the ball would be on him in a millisecond; in right field, he can digest what is happening for a little longer before springing into action.

“I can kind of hang out, read it, and then get to my spot,” Smith said via Chandler Rome of The Athletic (subscription required). “I realized that early on that I have so much more time than I think.”

A big reason that the converted infielder has transitioned so well to the outfield is the speed and athleticism he possesses. The 29.1 feet per second that he covers while sprinting is better than all but three other right fielders.

It was on full display against the San Diego Padres when he robbed Gavin Sheets of what looked to be an extra-base hit.

Cam Smith showing off the range 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4qNgkR4QnT
— ESPN (@espn) April 21, 2025

It was a calculated risk the Astros were taking, but they were confident his athleticism would translate to the outfield. So far so good, as Smith looks like a natural despite not yet knowing the nuances of how to play the position.

“He’ll be able to make up for his mistakes when he’s out there,” said first base coach Dave Clark, one of the Astros’ two outfield instructors. “There’s been some balls I’ve seen hit where I’m like ‘Oooh, my God, how did he catch that?’ And it’s basically because of his speed.”

According to FanGraphs, Smith is tied for the team lead, with Paredes, with a Total Defensive Runs Saved of +4. He has committed two errors, the most for a right fielder in baseball, but all of his defensive metrics are positive numbers currently, making an impact in that part of the game.

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