The Cleveland Guardians made it to the AL Championship Series this year, won 92 regular season games, dominated the AL Central and developed multiple young, steady contributors for the upcoming years.
If that’s not a successful season, we don’t know what is.
One of those young players set to help the Guardians for the next few years is Cade Smith.
Smith is a strong AL Rookie of the Year candidate thanks to his sub-2.00 ERA and 100+ strikeouts from the Guardians bullpen.
He made an appearance on MLB Network Radio and talked about his season and his teammates.
Smith was part of the most consistent bullpen in the majors.
He stated that an “all hands on deck” mentality fueled their incredible campaign.
“75.1 IP, 103 K’s, 1.91 ERA. Cade Smith burst onto the scene in 2024, pitching like one of the best relievers in the game,” MLB Network Radio
75.1 IP, 103 K's, 1.91 ERA ⭐
Cade Smith burst onto the scene in 2024, pitching like one of the best relievers in the game. @CleGuardians | #ForTheLand
🔗 https://t.co/fGPbvbjGlC pic.twitter.com/sddcXk4tGP— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) November 6, 2024
Those are videogame numbers, and to think they came from a rookie reliever is nothing short of amazing.
Smith preferred to talk about his teammates and the unit as a whole.
“I think the beauty of our bullpen was that ‘all hands on deck’ mentality. That group down there was unified on our approach: when that phone rang, every single one of us was ready to go in the game”, the pitcher said.
The bullpen took the Guardians far, until the New York Yankees figured them out and tired them out a bit.
With a better rotation, Cleveland’s outstanding relief corps have the potential to do it again next year, and Smith will be there as one of the most talented hurlers in the squad.
NEXT: Chase DeLauter Gets Notable Recognition In The Arizona Fall League
