Not much has gone right for the Cleveland Guardians lately, as the team has lost four series in a row and with a sweep at the hands of the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, would drop to .500 on the season at 35-35.
Even the bullpen, which was the best in the league last season, has shown some cracks this year, though Cade Smith has been just about as dominant as he was last season as a rookie with a 2.32 ERA through 31 innings so far.
Smith has been having a strong stretch of success lately, having surrendered just two earned runs over his last 14 appearances since May 6th, a stretch which featured a strikeout of Mariners first baseman Rowdy Tellez on Saturday on a career-high 99.6-mph fastball.
Cade Smith just hit a career high 99.6 mph in his strikeout of Rowdy Tellez!#GuardsBall
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) June 15, 2025
Smith pitched a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts to set the table for Emmanuel Clase to close it out in the ninth, but Clase blew the save and gave up two runs, including a walk-off single by Jorge Polanco, to give the Mariners a 4-3 victory.
Clase has now given up 13 earned runs this season after giving up just five all last season, giving him a 3.94 ERA, which is a far cry from the 0.61 mark he had last season.
Smith has been one of the best setup men in baseball ever since debuting last season, but he can only do so much.
The 26-year-old has done his job this season, and now he just needs this offense to pick it up so he won’t have to be relied upon to pitch in high-leverage situations on a nightly basis the rest of the way.
NEXT: Young Guardians Infielder Continues To Make Strong Case For Call-Up
