Guardians reliever Cade Smith has blazed a path to stardom

Talk about a fast rise to stardom. Most Guardians fans had never even heard of Cade Smith when he was a surprising addition to the opening day roster out of spring training. Fast forward six months later and the right-hander is one of the majors' top relief pitchers. Giving Cleveland arguably the best one-two combo at the back end of the bullpen, alongside closer Emmanuel Clase, Smith posted a 6-1 record and 1.91 ERA over 74 appearances, striking out 103 batters in 75 1/3 innings. He led the majors in percentage of inherited runners scoring and limited the opposition to a .164 average with men on base — .087 with runners in scoring position. Staggering stats for a guy who was pitching for Double-A Akron at the start of last season. "It's been a blast being part of this team, part of this clubhouse all year," said the 25-year-old rookie right-hander. "I never would have expected to be here all year, and nonetheless here we are in October." Having a MLB-leading bullpen for nearly the entire season has made the transition from player to manager easier for Stephen Vogt. Smith has been a huge part of the comfort. "Cade's been so special," Vogt said. "And you never want to say you're surprised, but what Cade has done all year long? There's no heartbeat. There's no pulse. It's just come in and get the job done." Smith's calm demeanor on the mound is in contrast to many of his pitching brethren, who show their emotions after whiffing a batter or recording a big out. He stays cool in the heat of the pressure. "I'd like to think that I do a good job staying level-headed and focused on what I can control, and not letting what I can't control get the best of me," Smith said. Another one of Smith's top-shelf efforts was on display on the biggest of stages Saturday afternoon in Cleveland's 7-0 win over the Tigers in Game 1 of the Division Series. Entering for starting pitcher Tanner Bibee with two outs and a runner on in the fifth, Smith struck out the final batter of the inning, then struck out the side in the sixth. "It's just so comforting being like, 'All right, Cade Smith, here you go. You're going to strike out pretty much everybody you face,' and that's what he does all year," said teammate David Fry. "Even (Saturday in Game 1), we were joking about it in the dugout, like, 'What do you think, Cade Smith in the second (inning)? It's just — he's that good." "I think it's really easy to take for granted the type of player Cade Smith is and all that he's done for this team this year," catcher Bo Naylor said. "Being able to see him go through his day-to-day routines has been so special. He's very prepared at all times, never strays from his routines and is just so consistent in all parts of his game, which I feel like is a huge reason as to why he's had so much success to this point in his career,. "He's a competitor. He goes out there understanding that there's a job to be done, whether it's early or late in the game, he's going to be ready for it, and he knows what's at hand for him, and he just goes in and attacks it. This game definitely presents challenges at certain points, and I think he's taken each and every one of them head on with the right mindset and just continue to smash them." For now, Smith has no designs on becoming a closer — at least not in Cleveland with Clase, a three-time All-Star who has led the majors in saves the past three seasons, filling the role. "I think it's incredible to watch, and what a confidence booster it is for this team to have that guy at the back end of our bullpen," Smith said of Clase, a rare relief candidate for the Cy Young award. "And I think from the standpoint of the rest of the bullpen, it's like, 'All right, we need to do whatever we can to get the ball to him with the lead.' I think it's a phenomenal, phenomenal advantage to have him on our team." The feeling is probably mutual. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.