WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The first half of Cam Smith’s rookie season looked like the beginning of something special. The second half looked like a warning.
Smith hit .277 with seven home runs and a .765 OPS through 82 games before the All-Star break, the kind of production that had people quietly whispering Rookie of the Year. Then the league adjusted.
Over his final 52 games, Smith hit .154 with a .489 OPS, lost playing time, and finished the season with more questions than answers about whether his tools would translate consistently at the major league level.
He enters 2026 with something to prove, and so far this spring, he appears determined to prove it.
Through eight Grapefruit League games, Smith is hitting .278 with a .965 OPS and two doubles. On Sunday he added his first home run of the spring, a pull-side shot that caught the attention of manager Joe Espada for exactly the reasons Houston wanted to see.
“I like the fact that he pulled it,” Espada said, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. “Getting the barrel out, getting himself in a good posture, good position to pull the ball.”
A Mechanical Adjustment
That detail matters more than it might seem.
One of the underlying issues during Smith’s second-half collapse was a tendency to hit the ball the other way in the air instead of pulling it with authority. At a park with the Crawford Boxes sitting just 315 feet down the left-field line, a right-handed hitter who learns to pull the ball with lift becomes a dangerous weapon.
Smith didn’t do that consistently last season. His pull-in-the-air rate sat well below league average, and it showed in the results.
Sunday’s home run suggested that approach may be changing.
The Talent Was Never the Question
The physical tools have never been in doubt.
Smith has plus raw power and the kind of athleticism that made him a first-round pick by the Cubs in 2024. He was the centerpiece of the Kyle Tucker trade, which says everything about how Houston’s front office views his ceiling.
He reached the major leagues after just 32 minor league games, an unusually rapid climb that may have contributed to the second-half struggles. Simply put, Smith hasn’t played much professional baseball yet.
“Just good at-bats,” Espada added. “He’s starting to find barrels and starting to swing the bat at the right time.”
A Chance to Reset
At 23, Smith remains one of the youngest regulars on Houston’s roster. Experience should come with time.
If the mechanical adjustment Espada described holds over a full season—pulling the ball with authority while staying in strong posture through the zone—the rough second half of 2025 may ultimately look more like a developmental step than a lasting trend.
Sunday’s home run suggested he hasn’t forgotten what he’s capable of.