Cubs Draft Prospect Target: Cam Smith |
Now that we are in the full swing of the MLB season, it's never too early to look at the upcoming MLB draft and who potential targets could be. Whether you want to believe it or not, the NCAA baseball season is just two weeks from ending their regular season, and then it's off to postseason ball and the College World Series.
Along with that comes the MLB draft, where more than 600 players will hear their names called in hopes of becoming the next great MLB star. The Cubs and this year's draft are in an interesting position, as they are set up nicely to add an impact piece either on the mound or in the field. Holding the 14th pick in this year's MLB draft, there have been plenty of Mock drafts out there, and virtually everyone has the Cubs taking someone different with their pick. In the latest Mock Draft, the Cubs are once again looking at college-level bats, and this time, it comes from someone at the hot corner in Florida State University 3B Cam Smith. Regarded as the 21st-best prospect, the 6-4 224-pound Smith is well-built, and many feel taking him at No. 14 would be a manageable reach. A top prospect in the 2022 MLB draft, Smith chose to honor his commitment to play with Florida State. Two years later, he is about to enter the same hollowed ground where he was expected to land. While he hit a dozen homers as a Seminoles freshman, he struggled at times to catch up to the higher level of competition. That all changed once he reached the Cape Cod League as Smith took home player of the year honors that summer, posting a .981 OPS. Since then, he has only continued to up his game to the point where he could be one of the more underrated and undervalued prospects in this entire class. Smith already has an MLB-caliber body, but the real question is how much can he hit? The more he hits, the more likely it will be that he taps into that raw power, as he started to show that last summer in the Cape Cod League. He struggled with that during his freshman season at FSU, as he tended to chase pitches out of the zone, which led to poor at-bats. Over the past two seasons, Smith has worked incredibly hard to stop chasing pitches out of the zone, and it has worked well especially this season. Across his 46 games this season, Smith is hitting .386 with 10 homers and a career-high 39 RBIs. He has walked 26 times compared to 39 strikeouts as he continues to show the more mature plate discipline that scouts raved about the past two seasons. While the bat is a work in progress, and he should play well at the next level, there are other parts of his game that could help expedite the process, and defense is one of them. Given his quick feet and strong arm, Smith has what it takes to become a reliable 3B at the next level. Considering the Cubs' state at 3B, Smith could put himself in the driver's seat if drafted by the Cubs, as they have no long-term options outside of Matt Shaw. Smith runs better than he did in high school but still isn't much better than average when it comes to the speed. His ability to duplicate, and even surpass, what he did on the Cape during his sophomore campaign in Tallahassee has allowed him to be the kind of college performer rising up boards. That is something the Cubs have started to take notice of, as have other scouts, so a big finish is crucial for him should he want to make the rise people expect from him.
