2024 MLB Draft: Cubs Take FSU 3B Cam Smith With 14th Overall Pick
The Chicago Cubs have selected hard-hitting third baseman Cam Smith from Florida State with the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft. Smith had an outstanding performance as a sophomore, posting a .387/.488/.654 slash line, with 16 home runs, and 57 RBIs in 322 plate appearances.
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 221 pounds, the native of Lake Worth, Florida, put up solid numbers as a freshman, including an .843 OPS with 12 home runs and 36 RBIs, despite a 66-to-21 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Smith significantly improved those numbers this past season and reduced his strikeout rate, recording a 48-to-44 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
During the regular season, Smith finished with the fifth-best on-base percentage in the ACC and had a 56-game on-base streak that ended in May.
With this selection, Smith becomes the first third baseman that the Cubs have drafted in the first round since Kris Bryant in 2013. Additionally, he is the first Florida State player drafted in the first round by the Cubs in franchise history.
Here is Smith’s scouting report, via MLB.com.
Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 45 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55
A Top 100 prospect as the 2022 Draft approached, Smith’s commitment to Florida State as well as the fact that he was over 19 years old — old for some team’s Draft models — led to him not being selected. While he hit a dozen homers as a Seminoles freshman, he struggled at times to catch up to the higher level of competition. He caught up in a hurry over the summer, earning Most Outstanding Pro Prospect honors in the Cape Cod League after finishing with a .981 OPS, and he’s upped his game again during his Draft-eligible sophomore season.
At 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, Smith already looks the part with plenty of now strength. How much he hits will help dictate how consistently he can get to his plus raw power, and he’s answered that question well last summer and this spring. 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. It’s a trend that’s continued in 2024 as Smith continued keep the swing-and-miss to a minimum.
Smith runs better than he did in high school and has the chance to be a very good third baseman, with a strong arm, at the next level. His ability to duplicate, and even surpass, what he did on the Cape during his sophomore campaign in Tallahassee has allowed him to be the kind of college performer who is rising up boards.
