HOUSTON — When Cam Smith made his MLB debut on opening day for the Houston Astros, it was the third-fastest that someone had gone from the draft to the majors.

Selected 14th overall by the Cubs in last year’s draft, Smith played just 32 minor league games, including five at Double-A, before moving to the big leagues.

Behind the rookie’s meteoric ascent was years of work, preparation and planning coupled with a team working behind the scenes to help him reach the majors in near record time.

His mother muses about him being “too serious.” His hitting coach Aaron Capista says that he’s “built different.” Jason Romano, his longtime adviser and current agent at Excel Sports Management, says that he’s unlike anyone he’s ever known. Teammate Mauricio Dubon proclaims: “He’s gonna be a big star in the big leagues.”

Smith routinely arrives at the ballpark more than six hours before night games, has never had a sip of alcohol and says he hasn’t even tried anything with caffeine.

He knows it’s a rarity for someone his age to not drink alcohol or caffeine, but it was part of his longtime plan to live a life free from distractions.

“I don’t want to have to rely on anything,” he said. “I want to keep life as simple as I can.”

His mother, Stephanie Hocza, encouraged him to let loose in high school and maybe go to a party or two.

Smith, who was part of the trade that sent Kyle Tucker to Chicago, has heated up after a slow start and hit .307 in May to bring his season average entering Tuesday to .255 with three homers, eight doubles and 17 RBIs in 46 games. A performance made more impressive considering the 22-year-old was still playing for Florida State at this time last year.

Many in the Astros organization rave about Smith’s maturity. That could be traced back to a childhood where he had to grow up fast being raised by a single mother who often worked long hours to keep the family afloat.

In middle school, Smith would come home from school and do homework before walking to a grocery store where he’d often buy a sub sandwich for dinner while Hocza worked until 10 p.m. most nights as a cook at a Lake Worth, Florida, bingo hall.

Though it was difficult at the time, Hocza now sees those early days with her son as a blessing.

“The best thing to do for your kids is make them figure it out,” she said. “It was kind of forced upon him, but he definitely made the most of it and it turned him into who he is.”