CAM SMITH HAS ARRIVED — On May 13, 2024, MLB Pipeline listed eight Chicago Cubs prospects among their Top-100 overall rankings: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cade Horton, Owen Caissie, Matt Shaw, Kevin Alcantara, James Triantos, Moises Ballesteros, and Jefferson Rojas. That list excluded Michael Busch, who was a preseason top-100 prospect, but graduated early in the year. If you include the also-graduated Jordan Wicks — not a Top-100 prospect to MLB Pipeline, but was a top-50 prospect according to and , among others — the Cubs have ALREADY placed as many as ten prospects on various top-100 rankings this c🤪alendar ye♓ar.
Today, they have officially added another.
Cam Smith is a Top-100 Prospect
After the graduation of Junior Caminero of the Rays, the Cubs’ 2024 first-rounder Cam Smith becomes the ELEVENTH top-100 prospect from the Chicago Cubs system this year. MLB Pipeline is the first to move him onto the list:
Cam Smith has been everywhere lately, moving quickly from the No. 14 overall pick in the 2024 draft, to homering in six consecutive games, to becoming the Myrtle Bea🅰ch Player of the Week, to his first promotion to High-A South Bend, to his more recent promotion to Double-A Tennessee. All in his professional debut.
As a reminder, he absolutely DESTROYED pitching at the lower levels …
15 games at A-Ball: .313/.404/.771 (219 wRC+)
12 games at High-A: .333/.421/.500 (160 wRC+)
Andꦡ he got off to a great start at Tennessee last night, going 1-3 with a walk, a run, two RBI, and his first extra-base hit (which was actually ultimately scored a triple):
Altogether, Smith’s debut (118 PAs and counting) could not have gone better: .323/.415/.646 (193 wRC+), with five doubles, three triples, seven HRs, a 12.7% walk rate and a strikeout rate UNDER 18%.
Here’s :
“Smith displayed top-three-rounds talent as a Florida high schooler in 2022 but went undrafted because he was old for his class at 19 years and five months and also had a strong Florida State commitment. After a rough freshman season with the Seminoles, he made some changes to his stance and approach and starred in the Cape Cod League, where scouts voted him the summer circuit’s top prospect. He earned All-America honors and led Florida State to the College World Series by batting .387 with 16 homers this spring, a prelude to going 14th overall in the Draft and signing for $5,070,700.
Smith employed a more compact stance, made better swing decisions and used the entire field more judiciously in 2024 than he did a year ago, adjustments that helped him cut his strikeout rate from 29 to 15 percent. A right-handed hitter, he consistently barrels balls and produces high exit velociti🐬es thanks to his combination of bat speed and strength. He hits a lot of groundballs and has yet to pull the ball regularly in the air, which may cap his home run ceiling at 20 per season.
Though he has fringy speed and isn’t much of a threat on the bases, Smith has decent range at third base. His plus arm strength fits well at the hot corner, and he was a more reliable defender in his second college season compared to his first. If he loses any quickness as he gets older, he could land in right field.”
This may be Smith’s first placement on a top-100 ranking, but it absolutely will not be his last. This offseason, when the final scouting reports come in, I expect him to be a unanimous top-100 prospect. What a debut.
As for the eleven Cubs prospects who’ve made top-100 lists this year, here’s where they are in their developmental journey:
Th♐at is an incredible volume of talent at the upper levels of the system. And with the exception of Cade Horton (injured) and Jefferson Rojas (88 wRC+ at High-A), every single one of them is performing well *right now*.
It’s up to the Cubs to convert these guys into big-league talent (one way or another …), but this is truly encouraging stuff.
Flags don’t fly for the most number of top-100 prospects, but it’s silly to pretend like this doesn’t bode well for the future of the franchise.
