CBN Player of the Week, Week VIII _ Cade Smith
Former Abbotsford Cardinal and U of Hawaii-Manoa Rainbows RHP Cade Smith (Abbottsford, BC) gained the win, pitching three scoreless innings for the class-A Lynchburg Hillcats.
July 4, 2021
By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
There all kinds of axioms in the scouting world:
Players with freckles can’t hit.
Mouth breathers aren’t prospects.
Red-haired hitters don’t develop.
Blue-eyes hitters don’t fare well in day games.
And finally don’t waste any of your budget on anyone from the University of Hawaii Rainbows ... he’ll be too busy and too comfortable on the beaches.
Well, most of the old bromides have proven false -- like the red-hair one ... Rusty Staub had 2,716 hits in the majors and FieldHouse Pirates grad Owen Caissie, a 2020 pick as the top Canadian high schooler (by Chris Kemlo and the San Diego Padres) and now a Chicago Cubs minor leaguer, became the 100th Canadian active in 2021, at the three levels being monitored.
And don’t look now, but former Hawaii Rainbow Cade Smith (Abbotsford, BC) is our Canadian Baseball Network minor league Player of the Week for Week VIII. Smith worked three scoreless for the class-A Lynchburg Hillcats in the Cleveland system ... the best of the 101 Canucks in the minors.
Smith came on in the sixth to face the Salem Red Sox with his Lynchburg team down 2-1. The Hillcats scored four in the seventh for a 5-2 win before 3,172 fans at Haley Toyota Field.
Smith was dominant as in ...
_ The sixth he went 1-2-3: called third strike, ground ball, fly ball.
_The seventh he went 1-2-3: fly ball, pop up, strike out swinging.
_ The eighth he went 1-2-3: ground ball out, ground ball out, strike out swinging.
In his 39-pitch outing he threw 25 strikes to pick up his first win in the minors.
* * *
1B Quentin Roy (Montreal, Que.) is now active with Rouen Huskies - 2 in France’s Second Division. He is the son of Robin Roy (Montreal, Que.) who had outstanding career with Rouen in France’s First Division, and was active with the team for well over 20 years. Originally recruited out of Quebec in 1991 he soon moved to France on a permanent basis and, after securing citizenship, he went on to represent France on their National Team in several International competitions.
Bottom line, because his Father is Canadian, son Quentin despite being born in France, he would obviously merit “dual Canadian status.”
* * *
Jaspreet Shergill (Woodbridge, Ont.) has been active with Dohren Wild Famers in the German Bundesliga since June 6, but is always listed in box scores as ‘S. Jaspreet.’ I noticed the name in past weeks but it only “tweaked my curiosity” this weekend, so I decided to check into it. Through the Dohren team site, was able to confirm this was actually the Canadian Jaspreet Shergill. He’s now been added to the weekly list of Canadians playing with foreign teams.
Best Offensive Performance
Player/Class/Team AB R H HR RBI AVG
Kyle MacDonald - High A Hudson Valley 14 2 7 - 3 .500
Trei Cruz – High A West Michigan 10 1 5 - 2 .500
Otto Lopez – Dbl A New Hampshire 21 6 8 1 7 .381
Jake Sanford – Low A Tampa 19 3 6 - 3 .316
Connor Panas – IND Quebec 15 3 7 1 5 .467
Myles Miller – IND Boise 28 10 13 1 5 .464
David Glaude – IND Quebec 24 6 11 1 5 .458
Wes Darvill - IND Winnipeg 31 4 11 1 6 .420
L.P. Pelletier - IND Quebec 26 8 9 - 1 .346
(Minimum 10 ABs)
Best Pitching Performance
CADE SMITH RHP - LOW A LYNCHBURG HILLCATS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
1 3.0 - - - - 3 1-0 - 0.00 0.00
Cade Smith was originally a 16th round selection of the Minnesota Twins in 2017, but he didn’t sign choosing to go the college option instead. After graduating the Abbotsford, BC native was signed as a free agent by Cleveland making his pro debut with Lynchburg at Low A - East in 2021. This past week on June 24th, he made an excellent relief appearance in a 5-2 win over the Salem Red Sox. He pitched three scoreless innings, without allowing a base hit and striking out three hitters for his first win as a pro. His rookie pitching record with the Hillcats in 10 Low A - East relief appearances, now stands at 1-1 with a 7.24 ERA.
Canadian Baseball Network
Player of the Week
Week I _ Noah Skirrow (Stoney Creek, Ont.) Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies).
Week III _ Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) class-A Hillsboro Hops/class-A Visailia Oaks (Diamondbacks)
Week IV _ Indigo Diaz (North Vancouver, BC) class-A Rome Braves (Braves)
Week V _ Edouard Julien (Ancienne-Lorette, Que.) class-A Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels (Twins).
Week VI _ RHP Logan Hofmann (Muenster, Sask.) class-A Bradenton Marauders (Pirates)
Week VII _ INF-OF Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.) double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Jays).
Week VIII _ RHP Cade Smith (Abbotsford, BC) class-A Lynchburg Hillcats (Cleveland)