September 9, 2020

By J.P. Antonacci

Canadian Baseball Network

The strike zone runs from the knees to the letters – or as Cade Smith might put it, the prepatellar bursa to the latissimus dorsi.

Smith spent the past three years studying human anatomy in the University of Hawaii’s pre-med program while carving up Division I hitters with the Rainbow Warriors.

Next season the right-hander from Abbotsford, B.C., will focus on baseball full-time after signing with Cleveland as a non-drafted free agent, hoping to become the next young pitcher to make his major league debut on the shores of Lake Erie.

“It is exciting,” Smith said of a development pipeline that has produced impact arms like Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger, Adam Civale and James Karinchak.

“Some of those guys, they came out of college and two or three years later they’re in the big leagues,” Smith said. “They have a great track record of doing that. Their starting rotation is all homegrown. They talk about just how much they invest in their minor-league guys – how much they want them to grow.”

It was that knack for player development that convinced Smith to choose Cleveland over several other organizations vying for his services after the June draft, when players were free to sign with any club for a maximum bonus of $20,000.

“The Indians definitely blew me away,” he said of a series of long Zoom calls with club officials who entertained all the questions Smith could throw at them.

“They want their guys to ask questions, and that’s the type of guy I am. I want to understand why I’m doing what I’m doing and how it’s going to help me.”

Smith’s inquisitive mind drove him to chart his own pitches in college, making spreadsheets to track his velocity and movement. Cleveland’s analytical tools are a tad more complex, and Smith can’t wait to refine his arsenal.

“The more I see, the more I learn, it’s been, wow, this is awesome,” he said. “This is a whole new world of professional baseball, and I’m really excited to dive in.”

LATE BLOOMER

Tim Smith, Cade’s father and first baseball coach, said his son was a humble kid who was smart and easy to coach, but his Little League days didn’t betray many hints of what was in store.

“In Bantam, I thought he would be the fourth pitcher on his team, and suddenly he was close to the best pitcher,” Tim remembered.

“Then in the spring of Grade 11 he switched teams and coaches and it took off. He pitched a shutout in the States throwing only fastballs, just changing locations. That was when things started to change.”

Smith said his Grade 12 year at Mennonite Educational Institute was a turning point, even though baseball kept him out of class for weeks at a time.

“I was definitely a late bloomer,” he said. “It wasn’t until the summer before my Grade 12 that I started to get any kind of attention.”

That attention came thanks to standout performances at the Canada Cup in Alberta and Tournament 12 in Toronto, where Smith was named a tournament all-star and caught the eye of Greg Hamilton of the Junior National Team.

Trips to Florida and the Dominican Republic followed, with Smith acquitting himself well against minor leaguers and highly touted Dominican teens at the island’s summer league complexes.

“Those were great learning experiences,” Smith said, recalling how the competition got a lot tougher overseas, with opposing pitchers routinely throwing in the high 90s.

“No one on my high school team was throwing above 90, except for me – occasionally,” he said.

Those experiences, not to mention being named the 2017 College Prep League Provincial Final MVP with the Chilliwack Cougars, convinced the Minnesota Twins to draft Smith out of high school in the 16th round (466th overall) of the 2017 MLB Draft.

The money was tempting, but Smith knew he needed more seasoning before turning pro.

“There’s one thing to being an 18-year-old alone away from home on a university campus, and then there’s another thing to being an 18-year-old at the bottom of the minor leagues in Arizona or Florida,” he said.

Conveniently, he had another offer on the table. A coach from the University of Hawaii had also noticed Smith’s work at Tournament 12, and the school offered him a full scholarship – along with the chance to live away from home and “deal with adversity without having your parents there all the time.”

In Hawaii, the six-foot-five, 220-pound hurler racked up strikeouts and academic awards as the university’s top student-athlete, working around an intense sports schedule to maintain a 3.95 GPA.

“I didn’t get to surf that much,” he laughed. “I had a lot of homework, but it’s definitely super interesting. I’ve always been of the mindset that I don’t want to do something that’s boring just because it’s easy, because I’m going to hate it more than if I’m doing something that is interesting but difficult.”

It helped that biology captured his imagination.

“Just seeing the intricacy of these literal molecular machines inside the cells – how brilliantly they’re designed is something that I find really fascinating,” Smith said. “I see it as very clear evidence of a God who designed the universe with a purpose and how it works.”

In his pandemic-shorted junior year, Smith logged 18 1/3 innings, registering a 10.8 K/9 rate (22 strikeouts against eight walks) and a 4.42 ERA. Even though the reduced draft likely cost him another chance to hear his name called, he doesn’t regret choosing school over the Twins three years ago.

“I think the maturity I gained at school was so valuable to my development as a person and as a player,” he said. “I wouldn’t change that.”

Tim Smith sees the positive side of how things turned out for Cade.

“The only benefit of not being drafted in this Covid year was that he got to choose the team,” Tim said. “The Indians seemed like a perfect fit.”

Once his playing days are over, which he hopes is well down the line, Smith said he would happily go back to school and complete his degree.

“It’s not a bad idea after baseball’s over to say, ‘I have to go back to Hawaii for a year,’” he laughed.

LEARNING TO LET GO

When reflecting on how he’s grown during his college years, the scientist turns philosophical.

“I’ve learned a lot about having a good perspective of what you can actually control, and to be out there on the mound and stay calm and realize, hey, my control is very limited. Once the ball is out of my hand, I have no idea what’s going to happen,” Smith said.

“I’ve always been a really level-headed kid, but it’s another thing to go out there under that pressure and still be able to maintain your composure and stay level-headed in front of 3,000 people.”

What he can control, Smith added, is consistently repeating his mechanics, staying focused, and treating each pitch like a new chance to excel. And when things don’t work out, he said the trick is to deal with struggle and failure “in a way that kind of drives you forward rather than pushing you back.”

Staying grounded in his faith helps take the pressure off.

“If we honour God with our effort and attitude – those are things we can control – and do the best we can, play as hard as we can, hopefully that’s a really powerful testament to our faith,” said Smith, who sees giving his all on the field as “a form of worship. And then it’s not all about me.”

Tim Smith said he and his wife Sylvia – who both teach physical education in Abbotsford – are thrilled to see their son take this next step.

“Cade has learned that hard work and perseverance pays off,” Tim said, adding that their once-shy son has come into his own thanks to playing in Hawaii, where university sports are the only game in town and the media spotlight is fixed on student-athletes.

“In the end, we want him to gain wisdom in dealing with people and experiences which he can use in his post-baseball life,” Tim said. “We want him to give it all he can with no regrets.”

A STEPPING STONE

Tim Smith won’t soon forget his 50th birthday, which he spent watching his son sign his first professional baseball contract.

It was just the two of them at home in Abbotsford when Cade signed the electronic document on June 16, which will be replaced with a print copy once he makes it down to Cleveland’s training facility in Arizona.

“It was a cool moment,” Tim said. “The fact that it was on my birthday was a really cool thing. However, it meant more to me to see Cade actually get a contract to pursue his dream. It is one of those things where you consider, how many chances do you get?”

Smith made sure to enjoy the moment with his dad and celebrate the achievement while staying focused on the bigger picture.

“It’s a cool milestone, but at the same time, this is a stepping stone,” he said. “This is not the end goal. There’s work to do.”