Cade Smith’s struggles could force Guardians to make tough bullpen decision

Last year Cade Smith morphed into one of baseball’s best closers after Emmanuel Clase was placed on paid leave in response to MLB’s pitch rigging investigation. 

That hasn’t been the case this season. While Smith leads the American League with three games finished, he has a 9.00 ERA in his four appearances this season and has allowed at least one earned run in each of his last three appearances. 

While Smith’s early season struggles haven’t hurt the Guardians so far (they’ve won all four games that he’s appeared in), his struggles are still a bit concerning. 

The question now is whether they’re concerning enough for the Guardians to consider doing something different in the ninth inning. 

Cade Smith has struggled for the Guardians so far this season

After Smith by picking up the save on Opening Day against the Mariners his struggles started two days later when he gave up a game-tying single to Julio Rodríguez.

His next outing came against the Dodgers on Monday, and he surrendered two runs in a non-save situation. 

He entered yesterday’s game in a non-save situation thanks to José Ramírez’s eighth inning home run and allowed an earned run in the ninth inning thanks to a two-out home run from Freddie Freeman. 

Again, none of these outings ended up coming back to bite the Guardians (though Rodríguez’s single put the Guardians in a tough spot before Chase DeLauter saved the day). 

They’ve been able to play with fire without getting burned, but it’s only a matter of time before that changes. 

And we’re not saying the Guardians need to remove Smith from the closer role forever; it may just be smart to give him some time to find his legs in a lower-leverage situation. 

It wouldn’t be the first time the Guardians made a decision like that either, as they briefly moved Clase out of the closer role last April due to his early-season struggles (Smith picked up three saves during that time, FWIW). 

While the back-end of the Guardians bullpen isn’t at full strength thanks to Hunter Gaddis’ forearm injury, they still have a variety of pitchers who could fill in for Smith in a pinch. 

Connor Brogdon already picked up a save this season in the game where Smith blew the lead in the ninth, but he couldn’t make it out of the tenth inning unscathed either. 

Instead, the likely option would be left-hander Erik Sabrowski, who has opened the season with 3 2/3 innings with six strikeouts. He’s done nothing but get people out since he made his debut late in 2024 and has handled the set up role with ease this year. 

These problems popping up obviously isn’t ideal, but the Guardians’ bullpen has answered the call so far this season. What’s one more adjustment?