On Thursday, Cade Smith almost spoiled an incredible night for Parker Messick when he entered in the ninth inning with no outs, trying to protect a four-run lead with two men on. That’s when things went hairy for the Cleveland Guardians.
Immediately upon entering the game, Smith allowed a single to Taylor Ward to load the bases, a sacrifice fly to Gunnar Henderson, and a run-scoring double to Pete Alonso. The game was 4-2 Guardians, but Baltimore had two men in scoring position and just one out.
Smith could have lost the lead, but he hung on and got Colton Cowser to fly out, and Juan Brito to ground out to second, helped by an amazing play by Juan Brito, to end the threat. The 2026 version of Smith hasn’t looked as sharp as his 2024 and 2025 self, but Thursday felt like a small victory, even if he did look shaky.
His manager, Stephen Vogt, still believes in him, even if people are worried. The most important thing is that he believes in himself, and if that’s the case and he’s healthy, he will return to form soon.
“There’s no situation that’s too big for him. He’s handled the ninth inning extremely well since he got forced into that role last year, and it’s just a matter of him getting back to being himself,” Vogt said, per Mason Horodyski of News 5 Cleveland.
More today from #Guardians Stephen Vogt on Cade Smith:
"There's no situation that's too big for him. He's handled the ninth inning extremely well since he got forced into that role last year, and it's just a matter of him getting back to being himself."#GuardsBall @WEWS https://t.co/PH97wmT1Hb pic.twitter.com/kGYSwAXopw
— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) April 17, 2026
Two full seasons showing elite run prevention and strikeout skills are significantly more than two or three weeks of struggles. Let’s not forget Smith posted a 1.91 ERA in 2024 as a rookie and a 2.93 mark last year, accumulating 207 punchouts in the process.
Additionally, Smith hasn’t been that bad in 2026: he just set the bar so high in the past two seasons that the world’s perception is that he has been brutal, and he hasn’t.
After allowing Mesick’s inherited runners to score but no runs of his own on Thursday, Smith’s ERA is at 4.50 in 10 innings. That’s much higher than his track record suggests it should be, but not that alarming anymore. And he has a 3.17 FIP and 11 strikeouts, so he is not that far off the pace.
As the season goes on, Smith will grow more comfortable with his mechanics, and his ERA should start to drop. His strikeouts should increase in a hurry. The velocity is still there, and so is health: every other piece should fall into place sooner or later.
NEXT: Guardians Bullpen Blows Late Lead To Orioles
