Astros can put Nolan Arenado rumors to bed after prospect's power-packed showcase

The Houston Astros might've landed Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker this past offseason, but it's difficult to look back at the winter it was and call them "winners". After all, long-time superstar Alex Bregman departed in free agency (as did Yusei Kikuchi and Justin Verlander), and Houston was shown up by Nolan Arenado after he used his no-trade clause to block a trade to the Astros.

Paredes is a solid power hitter but he's got a lot to prove defensively at the position, so an acquisition of Arenado has felt like the best move for the club for quite some time. As it turns out, another player that came to Houston alongside Paredes in the Kyle Tucker trade, Cam Smith, may be forcing his way into the conversation at a faster pace than anybody could've anticipated.

Cam Smith is helping the Astros forget all about Nolan Arenado

Smith, the Chicago Cubs' first-round pick from this past year's MLB Draft, has been on an absolute tear in the early days of spring training. Making the Astros Opening Day roster may not be in the cards, but this red-hot streak is pushing up his big league debut rapidly.

As of Monday afternoon following the Astros' victory over the Miami Marlins, Smith has made it into five games and is 4-for-7 with two home runs, a bases-clearing triple, and six RBI. He's drawn four walks, struck out only one time and has an otherworldly 2.441 OPS through the first handful of games this spring.

Sure, this is a tiny sample size and there's no way it continues like this (right?), but Smith is doing an excellent job of turning heads and making it clear that he's not far off from big league-ready, even if his professional career began less than a calendar year ago.

Prior to making his way to the Astros this past offseason, Smith got into the first 32 games of his pro career across three minor league levels with the Cubs. In that time, he recorded 16 extra-base hits with 24 RBI, a .313/.396/.609 line and a 1.004 OPS. That alone suggests that this recent spring training tear may not be anywhere near as fluky as one typically sees from a player that's only freshly 22 years old.

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