Earlier this week, MLB Pipeline released their newly updated top 100 prospects for the 2025 season. While the Astros have seen some turnover in the system over the last few years, they were able to land a prospect on the top 100 list.
Cam Smith, the 2024 first round pick who was acquired by the Astros in the Kyle Tucker trade, was ranked as the #59 prospect in all of baseball. MLB Pipeline had the following to say about him:
“Though Smith drew some top-three-rounds interest as a Florida prepster in 2022, he ultimately went undrafted because he was old for his class (19 years, 5 months) and strongly committed to Florida State. He made adjustments after a rough freshman season, earning top-prospect accolades from scouts in the Cape Cod League that summer and All-America honors after leading the Seminoles to the College World Series last spring. After signing for $5,070,700 as the 14th overall pick by the Cubs, he homered in six consecutive games at Single-A and went deep in the Double-A Southern League playoffs, then joined the Astros as part of the Kyle Tucker trade in December.
Smith found more success at the plate by adopting a more compact stance, making better swing decisions and getting less pull-happy, which helped boost his OPS from .843 to 1.142 while cutting his strikeout rate from 29 to 15 percent from 2023 to 2024 at Florida State. He now regularly barrels balls from the right side of the plate and generates high exit velocities while exhibiting impressive bat speed and strength. The only real knock on his offensive game is his propensity to hit balls on the ground, which mutes some of his well-above-average raw power and may cap his home run output at 20-25 per year.”
The last prospect the Astros had ranked this high on MLB Pipeline was Hunter Brown who was ranked the #43 prospect heading into the 2023 season. With the addition of Cam Smith to the Astros system, they Astros have some very solid top end talent with Smith, Jacob Melton, Brice Matthews, Walker Janek and Luis Baez.
Be sure to subscribe to receive weekly updates on the Astros minor league system. Also be sure to follow on Twitter, @AstrosFuture, and like my Facebook page, facebook.com/AstrosFuture.
