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ARLINGTON — Cam Smith of the Astros made the switch from third base to right field last spring and quickly became one of the game’s best defenders at that position in his rookie season. Smith may have made the best catch of his young career to end the first inning of Thursday’s game against the Rangers at Globe Life Field.
Smith tracked a fly ball off the bat of Brandon Nimmo and timed his jump perfectly, reaching high above the wall to bring back what would have been a home run. The ball, which traveled a Statcast-estimated 356 feet, would have been a homer in 18 ballparks, and Smith made sure Globe Life Field wasn’t one of them.
It was sweet payback for the Astros, who watched Nimmo rob slugger Yordan Alvarez of a home run with a similar catch at Daikin Park on May 17. Alvarez hit five homers in the first three games of the series against the Rangers and entered Thursday tied for the AL lead with 20 home runs.
As great as Smith’s catch was, it still doesn’t rank as the greatest home run robbery by an Astros outfielder in Arlington. That happened on April 12, 2015 across the street at Globe Life Park, where a leaping George Springer pulled back what would have been a walk-off grand slam off the bat of the Rangers’ Leonys Martin.
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