The Astros are considering some time in center field for Cam Smith, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Rome points out that nothing is imminent and that the club isn’t planning on making Smith an everyday center fielder. It’s more about adding some extra versatility, giving the club the ability to perhaps put someone like Zach Dezenzo in right from time to time.
The club has already been aggressive with Smith. A third base prospect, the Astros moved him to right field during spring training since they have Isaac Paredes at the hot corner. Smith performed well enough to crack the Opening Day roster as the everyday right fielder, despite having almost no experience there. He was also just short on professional experience in general. He was only just drafted by the Cubs last summer before getting into 32 minor league games in the second half of 2024. Only five of those were at the Double-A level and none at Triple-A. He and Paredes both came to the Astros in the offseason trade that sent Kyle Tucker to the Cubs.
All things considered, Smith has taken well to all the aggression. He has a .226/.304/.403 line to start his big league career. His 29% strikeout rate is on the high side but he has three home runs, helping him to a 109 wRC+. It’s hard to read much into a small sample of glovework but both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average consider Smith to be above par in the field so far.
The Astros are clearly happy with the results and feel confident enough in his abilities that they are given him yet another test. Per Rome, they have started getting him some center field reps in pre-game workouts. “When you break down what makes a good center fielder, you’re going to see reactions, routes, speed and an arm. So far, he’s shown the ability to do all those things,” outfield coach Jason Bell tells Rome. “I know it’s early, but from the early signs, you can see the chance that he would have to do that if that was a possibility.”
Rome mentions that this could be a way to add some extra offense on occasion. Houston’s regular center fielder is Jake Meyers, who is a strong defender but has a career batting line of .230/.293/.368 in 1,250 plate appearances, which translates to an 87 wRC+.
Occasionally moving Smith over to center would allow the Astros to bench Meyers and get a different bat into the lineup. Rome mentions Dezenzo as one such possibility. He has mostly played first base in the big leagues but has also seen some brief time at second, third and in the outfield corners. His .238/.282/.363 batting line isn’t better than Meyers’ but he’s only received 85 big league plate appearances. Over 2023 and 2024, he stepped to the plate 636 times in the minors with a .303/.384/.517 line and 139 wRC+.
Getting Dezenzo into the outfield for Meyers could perhaps add a bit more offense but would be a notable gamble defensively. The club is using former second baseman Jose Altuve in left field, so an outfield alignment of Altuve/Smith/Dezenzo would effectively involve three converted infielders. Meyers, on the other hand, has tallied 22 Defensive Runs Saved and 38 Outs Above Average in his career. Having two of those infielders out there with an excellent defender like Meyers is already a bit of a gamble but this new consideration would be pushing that even farther.
It’s a plan that is all still experimental and Rome notes it’s entirely possible Smith never plays in center, but it’s notable that the club is tinkering as guys like Christian Walker, Yainer Diaz and Yordan Alvarez are all scuffling at the plate.
95 percentile speed and a strong arm. Makes more sense than keeping him in the corners
Wow I can’t believe a big guy like him can move like that
Your assessment couldn’t be more off. Smith, with virtually no outfield experience, has played outstanding defense in RF with a plus arm. He has already caught several more balls this year than 2024 Tucker was able to get to. The Astros have several young position players and pitchers that are already blocked. It’s so funny that people have criticized the Astros farm system for the last ten years. However, when you check major league rosters, the Astros are a top 3 organizations for drafted players on active major league rosters. The Astros draft players not prospects, so they will never have a top ranked farm system. They get that you only need 1-2 minor leaguers per year to make the team.
thx Lrtexasman – I was coming in to say pretty much all of that. I would simply add to Reynaldo’s, I wouldn’t recommend holding your breath for Astros “window to close”. Tucker trade *looks like* more front office brilliance. Astros have probably a top 3 rotation, decent lineup, decent bull pen, plus defense, and maybe the best FO brain trust in the league.
this guy is just too good.
This is starting to look like a very good trade for the Cubs.
DY, I’d say the same for Houston. As the article stated, getting young arm, borderline all star 3B, and a stud prospect for 1 year of Tucker looks very good.
Option 1: Play Paredes at 2B, where he has extensive MLB experience, opening 3B for Smith and RF for Dezenzo. This benches the very poor Dubon/Rodgers combo.
Option 2: Refuse to move Paredes off 3B, causing Dezenzo to rot on the bench and Smith to learn a brand-new position on the fly as a rookie, and then move him to another new position so you can open RF for Dezenzo while still playing the poor combo of Dubon/Rodgers at 2B.
And they’re going with option 2. Someone make it make sense. This team has gone full-stupid since they fired Click.
It makes sense because the team decisively made the evaluation in spring training that Cam wouldn’t be feasible at 3B at the mlb level.
It’s early. There is plenty of time to make changes. I think the outfield defense will be weak.
I really wonder on this team. Dezenzo is picking it up. Walker did today after his time off. Paredes has been struggling since his mini HR streak. Yordan has not looked good this season at all. Struggled last season. Have not really seen him good or feared in a while. Yes I liked Yordan and Tucker. But Yordan is not good behind Altuve. He is 3 4 or 5 but now have Paredes and Walker and where they have hit.
We also have good pitching of late. Blanco a good start Tuesday night. Gusto is really good so far, Wesneski, and what happens maybe in a week plus if McCullers returns and soon Spencer. We also have bullpen with Ort due back. Boy
This doesn’t make any sense to me. If you need a corner OF spot for Dezenzo has Rodgers been that big of a boon at 2B? Has the 2B defense improved that much? Altuve back to 2B, Dezenzo LF, Smith RF. What’s the issue there? Smith to CF to get great D but mid-bat Meyers to bench? Rather Meyers/Altuve with Dezenzo in LF over Smith/Rodgers with Altuve in LF methinks. Overall D and O improved, right?
Or they could just do the logical thing, move Altuve back to 2B and stick Dezenzo in LF. Pretty damn simple. Moving Altuve so Rodgers can play 2B is the dumbest thing I have ever seen.
Dezenzo looks like a 200K+ guy.
We’ll see how that outfield works out. I’m actually surprised that their OF is doing quite well on the defensive side. Top 11 for DRS and Top 2 for OAA.