The Astros Secretly Flew In Prospect Cam Smith's Family To Tell Him He Made The Opening Day Roster
If you don't know the name Cam Smith, you better get to learning. Kid is a full blown stud prospect who headlined the trade that sent Kyle Tucker to the Cubs. He's 22 years-old and was drafted 14th overall last summer by Chicago and only saw action in 32 minor league games last season. The Astros saw him hit .342 with 4 homers in Spring Training and decided enough was enough and he was making the 26 and start for them in right field on Opening Day. Only playing in 32 minor league games before getting the call is wild, he worked his ass off and proved to these guys he has what it takes and didn't need anymore of that AAA seasoning. Jim Calais of MLB.Com pointed out that the 32 games was the third-fewest minor league games played by a position player before making it to the bigs, only behind Pete Incaviglia and John Olerud.
As is tradition with these big name prospects we got to see the moment he found out he was on that Opening Day roster and it's safe to say Houston hit this one out of the park.
Smith is bawling his eyes out before his mom even enters the room while everyone is kind of looking around. It looks like his girlfriend is apart of the scene too but mama makes sure to get the first hug and the last, she did a great job of boxing out and showing control there.
A lot of the time the roles are reversed and you get the player telling the family he made the club, but the Astros flipped the switch on him. Made for an awesome video, a very emotional one, and maybe a little awkward? The rest of the guys just didn't really seem to know what to do. I'd thought they'd be going nuts for him, letting him hear it, maybe a dog pile on him? It was kind of like they were stuck and didn't know what to do. But I think they saw the tears and how emotional it was and knew it had been a long, hard journey for Smith and his mom and held back a little. We got a nice round of applause but I'll be honest, I wanted the guys to go a little crazy for him. That's just me. Either way it's a great move by Espada and the Astros for bringing the family along and getting them involved. I actually like these kinds of videos and don't think they get old. Each one is different and you get to see some great reactions from the guys. Cool to see these kids realize their dream was becoming reality.
Even after the scene Cam was very emotional while talking to the media.
I mean how can you not want to pull for this kid? Cool to see the Astros really harp on the human element and allow access to this too. Helps build a story around one of your young cornerstones and helps get eyes on him with this incredible story. Nothing like a nice wholesome video to get baseball season going.
PS. It does suck to be that guy that is sitting in the locker room running the numbers and realizing that he just watched his spot on the roster disappear.