Chicago Cubs Tabbed For Breakout Infielder In Latest Mock Draft

The Chicago Cubs grabbed a college infielder, Cam Smith, in Jonathan Mayo's newest mock draft at MLB Pipeline. Smith, a Florida State product, is a draft eligible, true sophomore at 21-years-old. In just his second year with the Seminoles, Smith had a big breakout season that vaulted him into top 15 consideration in this year's draft.

As a true freshman in 2023, Smith earned the starting role at third base, but struggled in his debut season. In 51 games, the infielder hit .258 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI, but just a .326 on-base percentage, spending nearly all of his time at third base. Promising for a freshman, but not exactly first-round numbers.

2024 saw a huge uptick in production from Smith, as he slashed .402/.497/.677 with 16 homers and 56 RBI, earning him Second Team ACC honors. In just one year, Smith saw a huge rise in his draft stock.

The breakout of Smith could be due to just another season of playing college ball, which will always help a player. However, there was one big change to the 21-year-olds game that greatly helped him at the plate, and that was his approach.

In his freshman year, Smith struck out 66 times to just 21 walks and struggled with the swing and miss portion of his game. After the season, while playing in the Cape Cod League, he changed his approach that helped him breakout in 2024.

"He struggled to stick to an approach and have quality at-bats during his freshman year, often chasing pitches out of the zone, but that was vastly improved on the Cape, with his miss rate dropping from 29 percent to 19 over the summer," per his MLB Pipeline scouting report.

Smith carried his new approach into 2024, walking 39 times and striking out 22 fewer times than he did the previous season, in nearly 50 more at-bats.

His new approach, coupled with good raw power, landed him as Pipeline's 14th overall prospect for this upcoming draft.

The Cubs have a loaded infield, with Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner manning the middle infield for the foreseeable future. Chicago also drafted Matt Shaw in 2023, and he projects to take over at third sooner rather than later. Where would that leave Smith?

With a 60-grade arm at the hot corner, he projects to be a strong defensive third baseman. With that being said, he did play some corner outfield in the Cape in 2023. That means he has game experience at a high level in the outfield, should he need to transition in any event.

Smith is still young and doesn't have as much experience as some of the other college bats in this class. But, with a huge jump from year one to year two, that means there is room to grow in pro ball. Who knows how high the ceiling could get.