Verge: Cade Smith wins CBN's Wayne Norton Award, as top minor league pitcher
Abbotsford Cardinals alum and Cleveland Guardians pitching prospect Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) has been named the Canadian Baseball Network’s 2023 Wayne Norton Award winner, as top Canadian pitcher in the affiliated minor league ranks. Photo: Cleveland Guardians
February 8, 2024
By Melissa Verge
Canadian Baseball Network
Intelligence and athleticism make Abbotsford B.C.’s Cade Smith a double threat working his way up the Cleveland Guardians organization.
The 6-foot-5 pitcher has a body built for baseball, and the brains that had his university professor telling him he should consider a career in physics. Back in 2019-2020, the pitcher was awarded the top academic athlete of the year award from the University of Hawaii with a 4.0 GPA.
Those smarts were noticeable in him more than a decade ago, said his longtime pitching coach Shawn Corness.
“Even as a 12-year-old, you could tell he had something special, that he wanted to learn, he was all eyes and all ears all the time,” Corness said.
The now 24-year-old could’ve had a career in the sciences or in medicine, but Smith went with baseball, and he’s shone just as much in the minor leagues as he did with Hawaii. For his performance in the 2023 season with the triple-A Columbus Clippers, he has won the Canadian Baseball Network’s Wayne Norton Award, as the top Canuck pitcher in the affiliated minor league ranks. In 2023, over 62 2/3 innings, he struck out 95 batters and had 15 saves. He was recently added to the Guardians’ 40-man roster in November.
Smith led the way with 25 points and five first-place votes. RHP Carter Loewen (Abbotsford, BC), who split the season between the class-A Fort Wayne TinCaps and class-A Lake Elsinore Storm, was second with 13 points and two third-place votes. In third spot was LHP Wesley Moore (Surrey, BC), who was with the class-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws and the class-A Clearwater Threshers, with 12 points and one first-place vote. Next was RHP Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) of the triple-A Gwinnett Braves with nine points and a first-place vote.
Both his parents instilled the importance of learning in him from a young age, and although he’s not a university student anymore, now he can be a full-time student of the game, he said.
“I’m trying to learn as much as I can about different ways and theories and if there’s things that fit with the way my mind works and the way my body works,” Smith said.
His 2023 season was a continuation of him taking advantage of the information that he’s learned and putting it into practice, he said. Analyzing the data available from his previous pitching outings has helped him with his performance.
With the work he’s put in reviewing footage, he’s discovered there’s a few biomechanical differences between some of his pitches. Small differences in where his torso is positioned, where his throwing arm is positioned, whether they’re in plane and whether they’re early or on time. The difference is small, but the outcome on his performance based on where he’s positioned is big.
“The actual measured distance is not super significant, you’re talking about a couple of degrees or a couple of inches, but the result is pretty impactful,” he said.
The effort he puts in off the field has always made Smith stand out from his peers.
He really started to excel at the sport as a 15-year-old, his dad Tim Smith said, and having some good mentors along the way reinforced it.
As a Grade 10 student before he was recruited to the Junior National Team, it was what he did when his outing was over that caught the eye of Greg Hamilton, his mom, Sylvia Smith said.
Hamilton asked him how his outing went, and Smith said not the best. Hamilton agreed, his mom said, but said the hard work he put in post-game to take care of his arm is what stood out.
The energy he’s put in like that throughout the years to perfect his game, and give himself the best shot at a good outing each time he takes the mound, is what’s been the difference maker in where he is today, his mom said.
“He has a ton of gifts he does,” she said. “But you put that together with the work that he's done and the perseverance that he has, and that's what has got him to this elevated level.”
From taking care of his arm, listening to his coaches as a young athlete, to combing through data with the Cleveland organization now, he does everything in his power to set himself up for success, Corness, his longtime pitching coach, said.
“He’s a very bright kid, and he takes all the information and sifts through it all,” Corness said. “He’s just one of those guys that just doesn’t leave a stone unturned.”
Smith's current focus - how well he can repeat his delivery and execute moving into the 2024 season.
No matter the ups and downs that await, he’ll keep it in perspective, he said. Having his faith has helped him through what can be some violent ups and downs in the minors.
“I think that it’s also a blessing for me to have my faith, and that perspective that the ups and downs don't define me,” he said. “It’s actually something more significant, something outside of baseball.”
Honour Roll
Previous Canadian Baseball Network Pitcher Of The Year (Affiliated Minor Leagues) Winners:
(Renamed the Wayne Norton award for 2021 season)
2008 - Scott Diamond (Guelph, Ont.) Braves.
2009 - James Henderson (Calgary, Alta.) Brewers and John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) Brewers.
2010 - Scott Mathieson (Langley, BC) Phillies.
2011 - Mark Hardy (Campbell River, BC) Padres.
2012 - James Henderson (Calgary, Alta.) Brewers.
2013 - Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.) Twins
2014 - Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) Nationals.
2015 - Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC) Phillies and Shane Dawson (Drayton Valley, Alta.) Jays.
2016 - Jameson Taillon (The Woodlands, Tex.) Pirates and Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) Phillies.
2017 - Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) Braves.
2018 - Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) Jays.
2019 - Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga, Ont.) Twins.
2020 - Minor league seasons cancelled, COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 - Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) Mariners.
2022 - Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) Rangers
(Bold indicates major league service.)