Cade Smith’s season was built on two things Cleveland values in a late-inning arm: availability and dominance. That combination earned him another honor from the local Baseball Writers Association of America chapter, which voted the Guardians reliever the Bob Feller Man of the Year award.
No one in the Guardians bullpen worked more games, logged more innings, struck out more hitters or collected more saves than Smith in 2026. He made 69 appearances, tied for the American League lead with 41 saves and struck out 107 batters in 74 innings. It was the third straight season he punched out at least 100 hitters, a feat only Boston’s Dick Radatz has matched while working exclusively as a reliever.
Smith’s September run summed up why he stood out. As Cleveland pushed to lock up a playoff berth, he appeared in 11 of the team’s 25 games and didn’t allow a run all month.
He converted all six of his save chances, struck out 21 batters and walked three over 13 innings. Opponents managed just a .073 average against him while the Guardians clinched a postseason spot and secured their third straight AL Central title.
The postseason only added to the workload. Cleveland beat the White Sox in the ALDS after dropping the first two games of the best-of-five series, then lost to the Rays, 4-2, in the ALCS and fell two wins short of the World Series.
Smith and bullpen mate Hunter Gaddis each pitched in nine of the Guardians’ 11 playoff games. Smith finished with 14 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings, two saves and a .105 opponent average.
That kind of usage drew a joking comment from general manager Mike Chernoff after the season, when the topic of rest came up during exit meetings. “I think Cade Smith might even take a week off.”
That line fit Smith’s reputation, and it also helped explain why he was the choice for the award. Cleveland’s chapter of the BBWAA also noted the way he has become one of the most dependable arms on the roster. Manager Stephen Vogt put it plainly late in the season: “Cade does everything he can to keep himself available for us,”
Smith is now the fifth Cleveland closer to win the Man of the Year award, joining Emmanuel Clase, Jose Mesa, Doug Jones and Don McMahon.
The award ballot also included Parker Messick, Chase DeLauter, Steven Kwan and Gavin Williams. Messick and DeLauter had just completed their rookie seasons.
The writers selected Messick for the Frank Gibbons-Steve Olin Good Guy award after he went 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA in 32 starts. Kwan, Williams and Austin Hedges were also nominated.
Smith’s path to this point has been anything but ordinary. Cleveland signed him as a non-drafted free agent out of the University of Hawaii on June 18, 2020, after he went undrafted in the five-round draft shortened by COVID-19. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound right-hander is a native of British Columbia.
He reached the majors in 2024 as the final player to make Cleveland’s 26-man roster out of spring training, and he hasn’t stopped pitching since. That rookie season brought a 6-1 record, a 1.91 ERA and 74 appearances over 75 1/3 innings.
His role expanded in 2025, when he stepped into the closer’s job late in the year after Clase was removed from the roster while under federal investigation for throwing fixed pitches. Smith finished that season 8-5 with a 2.93 ERA and 16 saves in 76 games.
This past year was his first as the full-time closer. He made the All-Star Game and is a finalist for the BBWAA’s newly created Reliever of the Year award, which will be announced this week.
Smith has also piled up postseason experience at a remarkable pace. In three big-league seasons, he has already made 23 playoff appearances, and he became the first player in postseason history to pitch in 18 of his team’s first 19 postseason games.
Asked about his consistency, Smith said, “I worry about the guy in the box and let tomorrow take care of tomorrow.”
That mindset shows up in the way he works, too. He rarely gives much away on the mound, even after a big strikeout or a key out. In Game 5 of the ALDS, with Cleveland up 2-0, he entered with one out and a runner on first in the eighth inning and set down the next five hitters, four by strikeout, to help send the Guardians on to the ALCS.
“He clapped once,” said Gaddis.
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