Astros Rookie Cam Smith Proved Himself in Majors Despite Slow Finish

The beginning of Smith's career has been unique. He was a starter for two years at Florida State and while he was incredible in his final season, he didn't have a ton of experience. That didn't seems to matter to either the Cubs or Astros, though.

After being drafted, Smith played in 32 games in the minors across three levels, Single, High and Double-A. In 134 at-bats, Smith hit .313 with five doubles, four triples seven homers and 1.004 OPS. Then in spring training, he hit four homers with a 1.130 OPS and Houston felt they couldn't keep him in the minors any longer.

The 22-year-old's career started with a bang, hitting 16 doubles, two triples and seven homers while posting a .277 OPS and .765 OPS. It appeared that Smith may have just been ready for the majors as the Astros had thought, and he was in the running for the AL Rookie of the Year.

Smith's OPS in the first half was second amongst all rookies, as was his 116 wRC+. It looked like the rookie was on his way to stardom, but then it all fell apart in the second half.

Despite staring nearly every first half games, Smith wound up losing his full time gig in the second half. When they Astros acquired Jesus Sanchez at the deadline, the two became a platoon split in right field. It's unlikely that this was something the Astros wanted to do given everything they've invested in Smith, but he left them with no choice.

In 52 games, only 41 of which were starts, Smith slashed .154/.247/.242 with five doubles, one triple, two home runs and an abysmal .489 OPS. He became nearly unplayable, lowering his season long stats from above average to an 87 OPS+ and .671 OPS.

As a defender, Smith was nominated for a Gold Glove.

Luckily for Smith, it was really only one bad half. He had shown previously that he was a plus hitter at the big league level so all hope shouldn't be lost. It was the first time Smith had ever played more than 66 games, and the wear and tear of a big league season could have gotten to him. There is only room to grow from here.

Maybe the most impressive thing about his rookie season is that no matter how bad it got, Smith never crumbled under the pressure or gave up.

Smith wound up as the fifth most valuable position player on the Astros with a 1.9 bWAR. He might not be in the running for the AL Rookie of the Year, but the outfielder showed a lot of promise and will continue to be a big part of the Astros moving forward.