DENVER — The Cubs had a couple of benefits in mind for prospect Cam Smith when they promoted him to Double-A this week.
They wanted him to experience the Smokies’ winning culture and playoff run. Double-A Tennessee entered Friday with a comfortable lead in the Southern League North standings. The playoffs start next week.
“We set out to push him as fast as he would allow us to, have him tell us who he is,” Cubs director of player development Jason Kanzler said over the phone Friday. “I do want to challenge him and find a point where he’s a little out of his comfort zone. I guess we’re all still kind of waiting for that to happen.”
Smith, whom the Cubs drafted No. 14 overall just two months ago, has already climbed through three levels of the farm system. He also moved into MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 this week, giving the Cubs seven prospects on the list.
“Just his immense talent,” assistant general manager Jared Banner said of the key to Smith’s quick rise.
The Cubs had a steep climb in mind when vice president of scouting Dan Kantrovitz and his team saw Smith was still available at the time of their first pick. They thought Smith could stick at third base, Kantrovitz said that night, and they’d seen him take a developmental leap from his freshman to sophomore year at Florida State.
“The progress that he’s showing makes sense to me,” Kanzler said. “He didn’t top out early, he’s definitely not a finished product. Really, no one is a finished product, but he even more so is further away from his eventual ceiling than most typical first-rounders are. It’s exciting.”
Kanzler highlighted Smith’s mental makeup. The 21-year-old has shown the Cubs a drive to continue to improve.
“He literally says, ‘I want to be great,’ ” Kanzler said. “ ‘I want to be better. I want to be the best. I want to help the team. I want to help the Cubs. I’ll do whatever it takes.’ ”
Smith’s home-run streak in his last six Single-A games before being promoted to High-A drew fans. In addition to his power, Smith has reached base at a high clip at every level, posting a .405 on-base percentage so far this season.
“It does no good to have him beating up on levels that he’s probably too good for,” Kanzler said of the Cubs’ promotion philosophy. “Broadly, you really don’t learn until you start failing. And specifically, the major leagues and the caliber of play and the level of competition is so vastly more difficult compared to any level of the minors that it is really important to kind of gut-check our players when we can and get them very used to things not being easy, because they will not be easy in the big leagues.”
The gap between Triple-A and the majors has continued to widen. It can be seen in the growing pains of even top prospects such as Pete Crow-Armstrong. The outfielder debuted around this time last year at Coors Field, but he didn’t record his first hit until 2024. And the speedster consistently ran into outs in his first month in the big leagues.
Now, his development at the plate has helped lengthen the Cubs’ lineup and fuel a strong offensive stretch for the team. He’s easily the team’s most dangerous base-stealer, and in a regular role, his defense has consistently been showcased.
“We need to be creative and find ways to bridge that gap outside of the competition levels that the players are put into,” Kanzler said. “So that comes from us making sure, and holding ourselves to high standards, of practice and practice design and really pushing the boundaries of our players prior to the lights turning on every night.”
The Cubs shy away from premature declarations about prospects’ timelines, but it doesn’t seem like a stretch to assume that if Smith keeps up this level of performance and improvement, he could be on the radar next year.
“It’s one thing to read the metrics on a sheet of paper,” Banner said. “But seeing how hard he’s been hitting the ball in games, and the way he can drive the ball the other way, it’s pretty special.”