Cleveland Guardians 2024 Prospect Scouting Report: #34 RHP Cade Smith

With some control improvements, Smith looks a lot like a current Guardians reliever

Justin Lada

Feb 21, 2024

Cade Smith Bio

Age (2024 season): 25
Acquired: 2020 NDFA
2023 Level: Double-A/Triple-A
Height: 6’5
Weight: 230
Throws: Right

Cade Smith 2023 Stats

G: 47
IP: 62.2
ERA/FIP: 4.02/.341
K/BB: 95/28
K%/BB%: 35.2%/10.4%
WHIP: 1.31

Cade Smith 2024 Scouting Grades

Fastball: 55
Slider: 45
Cutter: 45
Splitter: 50
Command: 40
Overall: 40
Risk: Moderate
ETA: 2024

Build & Background

Lanky, big frame build. Smith has long levers and is high waisted with a strong upper body. Uses his length and leverage well. Has a very wide 3/4 delivery. Moderate leg left and more rotational than lower half drive in his delivery. Good shoulder/arm separation. Has a bit of a headwhack in his delivery. Gets good extension from his long legs and lanky right arm. Smith was an unrafted free agent out of Hawaii by way of his native Canada. Would have likely been drafted if not for the five round 2020 draft. Played in the 2023 WBC for Team Canada and struck out Pete Alonso facing Team USA.

What Smith Does Well

Smith can run his fastball up to 98 and it can play even above that velo thanks to his lanky delivery and extension. It gets on hitters fast. The heater has nasty ride on it and it gets up to 17” inches of vertical break on it. So far in the minors he has been able to miss bats with it. His second best offering is his split-change that kills a ton of spin (below 1000 RPM) and piled up a 28.6% whiff rate in Triple-A. It wasn’t his most used option or even second most used, but it could be good enough to become that. His cutter and slider are kind of in the same spot. His is more effective but isn’t a bat misser. It has more horizontal movement than vertical, but it’s not a sweeper. He can throw his cutter for more strikes but it’s not a bat misser either.

Where Smith Needs to Improve

Control is where Smith is still improving. His walk rate did come down in 2023 but he still lacks consistent control overall. He really needs to decide what his second or third pitch is going to be. He needs all three but his slider and cutter are probably behind his fastball and split-change to where he should feature his split-change more often, especially to left handers. It might be best to scrap his cutter because of how hard it was hit in Triple-A last year.

Key Stats

After a change to his pitch mix, Smith’s K% actually went up in Triple-A after being promoted from Double-A (31.5% to 37.1%). Once he got used to a new pitch mix, he started to miss more bats again and his walk did creep back into the double digits at Triple-A, but still almost 3% below where he was in 2022.

Intangibles

Smith was selected to pitch for Team Canada and did very well there, striking out Pete Alonso as noted. He learned from some more veteran pitchers in 2023 in Triple-A, and was coachable on different pitches and his pitch mix, and taking those plans into game. That shows being coachable and adaptability, but also being comfortable with advanced concepts in coaching and data.

Future

Smith does have a sort of Trevor Stephan like build, arsenal and delivery. A lot of simlairities actually. It wouldn’t be a surprise one day to see him ascend to that level. He’ll need to take a leap forward control wise and really get comfortable with his secondaries, but he has the pitches and talent to do it. As it stands now, Smith should be a middle relief option in 2024 and at worst profiles that way going forward with his size, velocity and extension.

Role

40 - Middle relief, possible setup man future