He was drafted by the Padres (as a pitcher), Atlanta Hawks (NBA), Utah Stars (ABA), and Minnesota Vikings (NFL)
I can’t believe cams ball to the gap didn’t get out last night. Seemed crushed and the ball was obviously carrying well.
I like that despite a long home run slump earlier in the season, he still put together solid ABs and kept his OPS respectable by getting on base. He’s generally shown pretty good discipline and he’s had some really important hits.
Cam has a batting average of .322 and has and .847 OPS since the beginning of May. It's pretty insane considering he only hit 4 homeruns in that period of time.
The kid is awesome, he seems so calm and loves to hit in big moments.....................he is hitting clean up for gosh sakes, he was in College last year!!!!!
I think Cam is ready for the all star break and a reset. What a whirlwind of a season. Can’t remember the last day he had a day off. But we can’t afford to sit him. Hopefully we comes back in the second half recharged.
He's cooled off lately. He's a rook so this is expected. Not sure if it's also because he's being moved higher in the line-up after Pena's and Meyers injuries.
I have seen many on here saying that Cam needs this break because he has hit the rookie wall. First off all players need the all star break to rest a bit. 2nd. Cam has absolutely raked through June and on the road trip we just got back from. Maybe I'm not seeing something. He is a young man and probably needs less time for his body to recoup than an aging 1st baseman who now has to deal with less sleep and more stress with a new born.
Outside of a 20 game span from mid-June- early July Cam is hitting .220 with a .586 OPS for the season. .135 avg and .317 OPS since July 8th. Send him to AAA to work and recover from the rookie wall until September 1st
So, just keep running him out? Don't try anything different or new? His current level of performance is fine and nobody else can do better?
Yes. You still have Chas, Hummel, and Trammell on this roster. So whoever you'd bring up from AAA is worse than those guys - that's very not good. You don't have to overreact to every slump and constantly tinker with everything. Just let him play through it, like they did with Walker and Altuve when they were a mess. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't - but his ceiling and floor is higher than whatever random guy you'd bring up to replace him. If they believe in their evaluations of their players, then its not a tough decision at all. GMs and teams are much more patient than fans.
Patience is not always rewarded and not always the best course of action. If sending Smith to AAA can help him at all then it should be done, because at his current level of play, replacing him is very likely to be a lateral move, at least. Hummel has a 110 wRC+ vs LHP. Chas is great historically vs LHP. Cam has an 81 wRC+ vs RHP. It's very unlikely that Melton is worse than that. If there is a reasonable chance Cam can return better in September its better for everyone in the long run and post season.
I don't think it's fair to extract good performances to make the case a player is not performing. That stretch is *exactly* why they want him in the line-up: at his best, he's better than (waves a hand in the general direction of the Astros other OF options)... Now, having said that: I'd be perfectly fine with him platooning with Sanchez if/when Yordan is back. Smith has punished LHP and Sanchez punishes RHP - it really is a great match and it would give Smith a chance to rest, recover, learn. But this idea of sending him down so Shay Whitcomb can play... I'm not buying any of that, at all.
