Astros foolishly ignored Padres' blueprint to get Cam Smith on the Opening Day roster

As spring training marches on, few players have found their names in the headlines quite like Cam Smith of the Houston Astros has. The 22-year-old is a brand new addition to this organization, but he's their No. 1 prospect (per MLB Pipeline's latest update) and has been one of the hottest bats in the league so far.

Through his first 10 games this spring, Smith is 9-for-22 (.409) with a pair of home runs, seven RBI, and a dazzling 1.292 OPS. Obviously these numbers aren't going to hold up over the course of a full season, but this level of production from a player as young as Smith is is extremely impressive.

Smith is a third baseman by trade, but he's very much blocked at the big league level by Isaac Paredes, another new addition to the Astros organization. According to KPRC2's Ari Alexander, Astros GM Dana Brown told Smith he should prepare to battle for the team's right field job back in January, but for reasons unknown, the team is only just now getting him reps at the position.

This feels counterproductive. If his best path to playing time is in the corner outfield, why would they waste time playing him at third to start spring training? You'd think he should have been thrown out into right field right from the start so he can be as comfortable as possible come Opening Day.

Astros fumbled clear shot at helping Cam Smith earn an Opening Day roster spot

Just last year, the San Diego Padres tried a radical position change of their own when they put top prospect Jackson Merrill out in center field to start spring training. They had him play the position right from day one, and he went on to not only make their Opening Day roster, but make the All-Star Game, finish 9th in NL MVP voting, earn a second-place finish in the Rookie of the Year race and take home a Silver Slugger.

Oh, and he also had 0.5 dWAR in center while finishing in the 97th percentile in Range and 90th in Arm Strength. The Padres proved that giving him that extra playing time in spring not only helped him make his way onto their season-opening roster, but it helped him earn some much-needed extra reps in center.

To date, Smith's experience in the outfield as a professional has consisted of a single five-inning showing during 2025 spring training. His first half season as a pro came last year and he appeared in 24 games, all at the hot corner.

There's no denying Smith's got sky-high potential and that he's going to be a stud at the game's highest level. The Astros undoubtedly would love to throw him on their Opening Day roster, but it feels like they may have shot themselves in the foot by shifting him to a new position so late in the game.

Position changes aren't always seamless, just look at how Jose Altuve's doing in left field for proof of that. Now that the Astros have fumbled the best opportunity with Smith, perhaps the best course of action is to have him open the year in Triple-A and see if he can earn his way to a right-field spot in the majors in time.

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