The Guardian’s bullpen has been THE SINGLE reason for the success of the club this year and Cade Smith has been a vital cog in this amazing group. How has the rookie 25 year old from Abbotsford, Canada (on the border of Washington/Canada) impacted the Guardians this year?
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Brief History
Cade was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 16th round of the 2017 Amateur Draft. He decided instead to travel 2,732 miles to the University of Hawai’i and play ball for the Rainbow Warriors.
Here is his bio from Hawai’i. His senior year was the COVID year, so his statistics were off. But something about his collegiate career must have piqued the Cleveland brass. Could be the strikeout/9-inning (SO9) ratio which jumped from 8.1 to 10.8. Or maybe it was his SO/Walk ratio dropping to 2.75. Maybe it was his 6 foot 5 inch frame. Or that his last performance was a 9 KO in 6 inning relief. He signed undrafted with Cleveland in June of 2020.
Minors
To start off this season, Smith won the Canadian Baseball Network’s Wayne Norton outstanding Canadian minor league pitcher.
Congratulations to Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.)!
He has been named the Canadian Baseball Network’s 2023 Wayne Norton Award winner, as top
pitcher in the affiliated minor league ranks.@AbbyCardinals @BaseballCANJNT @baseballcanada @CleGuardians @AkronRubberDuck @CLBClippers pic.twitter.com/pmpH2jZauV
— The Canadian Baseball Network (@CDNBaseballNet) February 2, 2024
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Here is his minor league total line, including the Arizona Fall League in 2022.
11-8 record, 34 saves, 3.64 ERA, 273 KO’s, 1.21 WHIP, and .195 opposing batting average.
He had never started a game. Cade pitched 173 innings in his three years in the minors. What’s amazing is he was never a top 30 prospect according to baseball publications, yet he wins a spot in the spring and hasn’t looked back.
He basically has three pitches. A four seam fastball, slider and his interesting split-fingered fastball. Check out this great piece by the fine folks at FanGraphs. He is predominantly a fastball pitcher, but recently his slider has become a pitch that he can get ground balls with.
But his fastball is top notch. Not in MPH’s mind you. But in the vertical movement. He can get the four seamer at roughly an average of 96 mph. His splitter he can adjust between 67 and 92.7 mph. That’s crazy and can help him adjust against hitters in his first year in the league. He should try to incorporate his slider more. Maybe begin to develop a fourth pitch to keep hitters guessing. But he used his slider in a strange way last Sunday!
At 6’5” you would think he has a high point of release. But with his stride and ¾ arm angle, the ball seems to rise for batters even if his north/south movement is at times 15 inches! That would account for all the lazy pop flies he generates.
Majors
2024 is his rookie season with the club. November 14th was the day the Guardians selected Smith to be on the 40 man roster, a key date to keep in mind. He is not arbitration eligible until 2027 and a free agent until 2030!
He has a 5-1 record with one save and an era of 1.95. But what does Fangraphs.com and baseball-reference.com say about his performance so far? Let’s look.
Some Cade Smith metrics
He’s better versus lefties than righties. Lefties are only hitting .169 versus the .216 for right handed hitters. Cade has a 13.89 KO/9 innings mark against the lefty hitters, 11.20 right. He does walk way less righties than lefties. Smith forces more ground balls from the right side. (52.4% vs 44.7%).
He is equally solid in Home v Away metrics. No major discrepancies here.
“Cade Smith, Just filthy!”
But it’s in the leverage situations where manager Stephen Vogt is using him more. And a great game to showcase was this past Sunday against the Phillies. Cleveland fell behind 3-0 by the end of the 3rd inning. Joey Cantillo started for the Guardians but struggled.
Courtesy of MLB.com
Cleveland ties it with three in the top of the fourth thanks to Santa (Jhonkensy Noel’s 3 run bomb). But in the bottom of the fourth Philadelphia quickly put two on with only one out. Knowing this game was key, Vogt brought in Smith in an early, high-leverage situation.
Smith strikes out Cleveland killer Kyle Schwarber on a four seamer. Then, after starting Trea Turner with a ball on a 85.7 mph splitter, he nails him for the KO on a high 96.7 mph four seam fastball to end the threat.
Top of the fifth was Smith growing in his reliever role and in his confidence. Two quick ground ball outs, and Smith was facing Nick Castellanos. Smith starts him with two SLIDERS! First one over the heart of the plate at 80.5 and the second he made Nick chase way out of the zone! Cade tried to get fancy with four seamers that were outside. But the 7th pitch of the at bat was a 90.3 splitter that Nick whiffed on low and out of the zone.
Watch the three key strikeouts here!
High leverage and gutsy pitches by the rookie to help with the eventual 4-3 Sunday afternoon.
As this team continues to battle for home field advantage, this bullpen is leading the way. And we can thank the rookie, Cade Smith, for his part so far in this historic season for the Guardians’ relievers!
Next up…Hunter Gaddis!
Thanks to baseball-reference.com and fangraphs for much of the statistics for this article. Please bookmark these amazing sites, MLB fans!
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