Baseball is one of the most beautiful sports in the world at times. Just ask Cam Smith. Moments can bring fans to their knees, celebrating the human spirit. On Tuesday, the Houston Astros provided a moment like that for him.
Smith, who was acquired from the Chicago Cubs as part of the Kyle Tucker trade, is a 22-year-old rookie. He was a first-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft for the Cubs, but they added him to the deal with the Astros. His spring training effort totally impressed manager Joe Espada and other Astros players.
Most managers call players in their offices to let them know they either are making the team, getting optioned, or released. Smith was sitting in the Astros’ clubhouse on Tuesday afternoon. Espada stood before his team and started talking about what it means to be an MLB manager.
He set the whole situation up beautifully. Check it out right here.
The woman you see who goes up to embrace Smith is his mother, Stephanie Hocza. The Astros called Hocza on Monday night and arranged for her to fly into Houston for this moment. This magic moment, one that mother and son can remember forever. She told her son that he’d made it to the major leagues, earning a spot on the Astros’ opening-day roster.
In 38 at-bats heading into Tuesday night’s exhibition against the Astros’ Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys at Daikin Park, Cam Smith had a .342 batting average with four home runs and 11 RBIs. He’s got a .419 OBP and an OPS of 1.130.
Smith has gone from high school phenom to No. 1 prospect and a major-league roster spot in lightning-fast speed. The Astros are laying odds that Smith will, eventually, be able to firmly put his imprint in right field. Yes, the same right-field role that Tucker held for so many seasons.
Making this decision about Cam Smith will leave the Houston Astros open for scrutiny. If he gets off to a slow start during the season’s first 30 days, then fans might start yelling for a change on sports radio talk shows.
Yet this truly heartwarming moment is something even the most hard-hearted fans must respect. Cam Smith went into the Astros’ spring training camp down in West Palm Beach, Florida, and busted his hump. He just took his chance seriously, not that those other players there didn’t as well.
Old-school Astros fans will remember how much pressure was placed on a young outfielder named Cesar Cedeno to succeed. Cedeno ended up having a pretty good career, but he didn’t put up Hall-of-Fame numbers.
Giving Smith some space to make a few mistakes will be valuable for the Astros. Let him have a few growing pains as the season rolls out. He’s going to get an early test as the Astros open their MLB season on Thursday at home against the New York Mets. Juan Soto, who played a role in the New York Yankees storming into Houston last season for an opening-series win, now plies his trade for the Mets.
But Smith always will be able to remember the day he received “the call” to the big leagues. It truly was a family affair.
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