AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS VS GUARDIANS

October 5, 2024

Cade Smith

Progressive Field

Cleveland Guardians

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. Cade, how excited are you to be a rookie and now here you are in the playoffs?

CADE SMITH: Yeah, I'm absolutely pumped. I mean it's been a blast being part of this team, part of this clubhouse all year. I never would have expected to be here all year, and nonetheless here we are in October. So I'm stoked.

Q. Erik Sabrowski was saying how you've basically taken him under your wing and made sure he gets where he needed to go, and he credited you for a lot of his experience so far. What's it been like to watch his story pan out, knowing everything he's been through?

CADE SMITH: I think it's a super cool he got here, going through two Tommy John surgeries and spending basically years in Arizona rehabbing. To finally be healthy and feel like himself and be here, I'm sure there's no better feeling.

I haven't been through the rehab process personally, but I can imagine he's been working his tail off to be here. So I'm super pumped to see him here. Yeah, trying to help him out and share some of the things that I know and that I've learned from the guys who have been here before me, and I think that's part of the beauty and the tradition of it.

Q. What's your vantage point watching Emmanuel Clase during the season he's been in and what he could do in the playoffs where you don't necessarily have to limit him to one inning and he can let everything loose?

CADE SMITH: I think it's incredible to watch, and what a confidence booster it is for this team to have that guy at the back end of our bullpen. And I think from the standpoint of the rest of the bullpen, it's like, all right, we need to do whatever we can to get the ball to him with the lead. All right.

So I think it's like a phenomenal, phenomenal advantage to have him on our team.

Q. Cade, when you were coming up in Canada, did you play with the Naylors on any of the national teams?

CADE SMITH: Yeah. I played with Bo on the junior national team in high school. Just for a little bit.

Q. And what's your favorite Josh Naylor moment?

CADE SMITH: I mean, I think some of his just celebrations when he hits home runs are just electric to watch. I mean, there's the full -- full range of hitting a home run and it's just -- it's routine and it's so calm and collected and rounding the bases silently, and then there's also times when he hits a home run and he's unhinged. And it's fun to watch and the kind of guy who you're glad he's on your team, not the other team.

Q. How much advice have you guys been getting from Austin Hedges knowing he's been here before and gone deep and gone all the way? How much are you guys leaning on him for being a leader in the clubhouse and getting you guys there too?

CADE SMITH: He has absolutely been a leader in the clubhouse all year long. Day in, day out he's been consistent, he's been there. He's been taking the reins and shaping the culture in the clubhouse, and it's been something that I don't think we'd do it without him.

The clubhouse wouldn't be the way it is without him, for sure. I mean, he's a big personality, but the way that he has balanced sharing his experience and also like having fun and the competition and bringing it all together in a really kind of beautiful picture has been something that's been a ton of fun to be a part of.

And, yes, getting to this point, too, now there's more questions about what it's like to play in October and what are we looking for, what's different from the regular season. To have guys like him who have been there and are willing to share that is a really unique advantage, again, because it's about having been through it and experienced it, and then he's willing to share that to make us better and help us so maybe we don't have to struggle in one of the ways some other guys do when they experience it for the first time, that he's willing to help us get through that and look to pull together as a cohesive unit towards winning the World Series.

Q. Your teammates and your manager all say you're super calm, even keel, and I think we see that too. Is there anything different like when you're on the mound whether it was opening day or how you'll feel today, are you actually that calm and relaxed on the mound?

CADE SMITH: I think so. I'd like to think that I do a good job staying level headed and focusing on what I can control and not letting what I can't control get the best of me.

But there's no doubt about it, I'm excited for the game today. We've been preparing for this all week. Everyone in the clubhouse is just ready to go out and play. That's what we're here to do. That's what we love to do. So that's what we've been looking forward to is you put in the work and it's time to let it just flow.

Q. What's it like having Jose Ramirez in the clubhouse when he's bouncing around the room and whatnot?

CADE SMITH: Again, it's incredible to watch the different personalities of guys who have experience and they're veterans and kind of how those personalities each weigh into the clubhouse dynamic and shape it.

But, again, like to see the way he goes about his business and how he knows what he needs to do and he does that with excellence so that he can perform day in and day out is something that I think I've learned from, even him being a position player and I'm a pitcher, but to see the way he's diligent about his work is something that definitely everybody can learn from.