Chicago Cubs: Top prospect traded in Kyle Tucker deal is bottoming out with the Astros

When the Chicago Cubs traded for right fielder Kyle Tucker prior to the 2025 season, there was some significant rumbling from fans and media about one of the key pieces in that deal with the Houston Astros—Cam Smith.

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Smith was the Cubs’ first round draft pick in 2024 and was considered by many as a “sure thing” major league impact player. Brought in as a third baseman, there was also belief that his skill and talent set could eventually put him in the outfield as well.

After going to Houston, alongside third baseman Isaac Paredes and pitcher Hayden Wesneski, the Astros did just that. He broke spring training with the big league team and became their every day right fielder.

The vibe was generally favorable for the young talent, who settled into his new position and played remarkably well from a defensive standpoint. Offensively, he was a bit up and down, but he offered enough glimpses of next-level production to keep him in the lineup. On the year, Smith hit .236 with 9 home runs and 51 RBIs.

Cam Smith has fallen apart

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This season, however, things have gone all the way sideways for the 23-year-old.

Smith has struggled mightily over the course of the entire year so far. As of this writing, he’s slashing a weak .197/.293/.312 with a .605 OPS.

The defense is still there, but posting a 77 wRC+ is not good and neither is a strikeout rate that has now climbed to about 28%.

This extended bad run has some in Houston even talking about sending Smith back down to Triple-A where he can work on some of the finer details of his offensive game.

Drew Koch of Houston Astros blog Climbing Tal’s Hill recently made the case for a tactical demotion:

“Sending Smith back to the minors could be the best case scenario for the young Astros outfielder. It’s worth remembering that he has never even played a minor league game since joining the Astros organization during the 2024-25 offseason. His tireless work during spring training last year earned Smith a spot on the Astros Opening Day roster, and he’s never been sent down.

Moreover, Smith only spent 32 games (and 134 plate appearances) in the Chicago Cubs minor-league system before he was traded to Houston. To put that number in perspective, we’re not even two months into the 2026 season, and Smith has already surpassed those numbers.”

Cubs fans breathe a sigh of relief

For the Cubs fans seeing this, there has to be at least a bit of a sigh of relief that we didn’t get fleeced in the Astros deal, which definitely had its ups and downs as Tucker languished through a frustratingly long second-half-of-season slump that, ultimately, he never broke out of.

Smith is only 23, though, so there’s still plenty of time for the Cubs to rue the day they dealt him.

Meanwhile, by the way, another one-time Cubs top prospect traded away, Owen Caissie, is also failing spectacularly after being sent to the Miami Marlins.

The post Chicago Cubs: Top prospect traded in Kyle Tucker deal is bottoming out with the Astros appeared first on ChiCitySports.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-cam-smith-kyle-tucker-trade-astros-struggling/