Hot Streak Puts Houston Astros Star Cam Smith in AL Rookie of the Year Race

When the Houston Astros landed top prospect Cam Smith from the Chicago Cubs in the return for star outfielder Kyle Tucker, nobody was predicting that the 2024 first round pick would force his way on to the Opening Day roster.

With an absurdly hot spring training showing combined with question marks in the Astros outfield, Smith earned a spot as the team's starting right fielder, a departure from his natural position of third base.

Expectations for how Smith would fare ranged from the notion that it was a mistake to rush him to the Major Leagues so quickly all the way to expecting him to be one of baseball's top rookies.

So far, it's been a mixed bag. Smith struggled early, hitting just .111 through his first six games. Since then, he's worked his average up to .232 while earning a hit in four of his last five contests.

Now nearly a month into the regular season, it's time to start taking stock of the major award races.

MLB.com analyst Theo DeRosa did exactly that Tuesday, breaking down the state of the American League Rookie of the Year race and separating the contenders into tiers.

Thanks to Smith's recent run of strong play, he earned a spot in the tier designated for players pushing their way into the picture.

"After a strong spring helped him crack the Astros’ roster, Smith went just 1-for-18 to start his rookie season -- but he’s definitely heating up," DeRosa wrote. "Smith is finding his footing at the Major League level. If he can hit like he did in the Minors and during spring, Smith -- a key piece of the return for Kyle Tucker-- will be a strong ROY contender."

Smith has his numbers in the neighborhood of where they'd need to be to merit real consideration.

His slash line now sits at .237/.308/.424, good for a .731 OPS and a 112 OPS+.

There was some question about whether or not he would be passable as a defender in the outfield given the fact that he's been an infielder up to this point, but Statcast grades his fielding run value as in the 60th percentile in MLB.

Smith's two-homer game last Friday made him the youngest Astro since Yordan Alvarez to hit more than one home run in a contest, and his recent hot stretch shows that he's up to the immense task of handling the pressure that comes with replacing a star like Tucker and being relied upon for massive production before even playing a full season in the minor leagues.