Latest / CBN Sports 1-ON-1 / EP.14 Cade Smith Nearly Quit Baseball - Now He’s One of MLB’s Best Closers
Transcript
- Will Dawson: Yeah. Welcome to CBN Sports One-on-One, where you'll hear exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in sports right here on the CBN Sports Podcast Network. I'm your host, Will Dawson. If you're like most of us and you love sports, but you're tired of the dark side of sports culture, me-focused athletes, or even organizations that bow to an unbiblical belief system, we think you're gonna love this podcast. There's no yelling, no sensationalism, just great conversations with athletes and coaches. Who recognize that their purpose is bigger than their sport. One of Major League Baseball's most dominant closers this season is Cleveland Guardians Cade Smith. Currently, the Guardians are battling for the American League Central, led by our last week's guest, Parker Messick, and today's guest, Cade Smith. But Major League Baseball's success wasn't always apparent for Cade. In fact, he thought about giving up the game altogether, as you'll hear in this conversation. Let's jump right in. So, Cade, you've been one of the most dominant closers in baseball this season, if not the most dominant closer in baseball. Where's that tenacity come from? I don't know if tenacity is the right word for it. I mean, I think that it would be I'd probably describe the way I pitch much more as a calm, deliberate focus. Okay. Yeah. but I think that that kind of focus just there's part of it that's definitely just personality based, like kind how I just what comes easy to me as far as operating my day to day life. and then part of it is definitely from my parents, like just having good perspective about things and being able to stay level headed during some of the crazy ups and downs. So you feel like that's something or the way that God created you then? I would say so. That focus, determination. You you grew up in a Christian home. I did. When did your faith become real to you? My faith became my own when I got out to college. So growing up in a Christian home, it was like I was always in the church. I went to Christian school and middle school and high school where my dad taught. And then it was a lot of going through the motions, kind of put on a facade, live out your parents' faith, like having to do things because that's just what we did. and so it wasn't until I got out of college where I was at a secular school and confronted with I mean majoring in biology too. So confronted with the the rampant atheism and I don't know if it Just like cling to science kind of belief that we have science, we don't need God. And so it was very clear that I needed to make a decision on what do I believe? Can I explain it? Can I defend it? Can I trust it? And that was where my faith became my own. That's interesting to me because you went to a Christian school growing up. So did you hear any of the opposing viewpoints of science and biology? I would say maybe a little bit. But it wasn't until my second semester of my grade twelve year where I took a a course called Faith in Science and it began to talk about apologetics. And that was I thought it was fascinating. It really kind of kickstarted this, I guess, interest I had that actually there is an intellectual intellectual component to my faith. And so that was I mean, really started this kind of pursuit of knowledge and learning and trying to dive into that. That's cool. It appealed to you in a way that, again, God created you. When you were drafted out of high school, you were drafted in the sixteenth round, I think it was twenty seventeen by the twins. Were you were you disappointed in not starting your major league journey or your your baseball journey then, but rather going to Hawaii? What what kind of led up to that or what were the circumstances of your choice to go to s to college instead? It was a it was a difficult decision. I mean, leading up to it, it was like I choosing between two options that I wanted to do. Like I wanted to go to college, I wanted to play D one baseball, but like I also really wanted to go start playing professional baseball. And both sounded like those are really cool opportunities, really good options. So the prayer the entire time leading up to it was just for God to make it clear. And when I got drafted in the sixteenth la round, that was, you know, later than I had hoped and felt that that decision had been made pretty clear to me that this was later than I thought. And you give me you know, three years to go to college and develop, but I could move up those ranks and little did I know, COVID's gonna shut everything down. I wasn't gonna get drafted. But that's what made that decision clear for me in that moment was that I can go to college and try and develop that way. So you had a you had a great time at University of Hawaii as far as pitching goes. You had considered you were studying biology, you considered med school. So it was clear that you were a a a smart guy. you had thought about becoming an ophthalmologist. Is that right? That was something that I was I was interested in. You know, I right around the time that we did the eye in my grade seven science class was the same time my dad got laser eye surgery. And so it was just a combination of it, one, it impacted my real life and two, I thought it was interesting. And so I kinda kept that in the back of my mind as something that potentially I could be interested in and move towards and maybe stumble into that or maybe stumble into something else that I was Good at and was better suited to me. So it wasn't like I was a you know hard target that I said. It was just it was something I was interested in and something I was going to broadly kind of work towards at that point and see what doors got to open and close. Well, I'm going to interrupt here momentarily to add some context. Typically, the major league baseball draft is 20 rounds, and right out of high school in 2017, Cade was drafted in the 16th round, but he instead decided to go to college. Signing to play at the University of Hawaii. However, in 2020, because of COVID, the Major League Baseball draft was shortened to five rounds. And after three years of playing for Hawaii, Cade went undrafted. It made him question God, as you'll hear, but he ended up signing a free agent deal with the Cleveland Guardians, and it ended up working out pretty well. So let's get back to it. You knew pretty definitively that you were going to become a baseball player, or at least that was your hope. And that medical school was something that maybe was a fallback? I didn't know actually. I there was a point in time I almost quit baseball in in high school. It was just it was not going well and there was not in a healthy environment that I was in, and so I had to make a change there. But also like I had issues with my knees when I was in middle school and felt like, you know, physically my body was breaking down for what I was asking for. And so there was no, you know, real confidence or certainty at all that I was gonna play baseball the next level. It was just something that You know, I like to do it. I I played alt you know, other sports as well, but no confidence, no certainty there. I mean even going you know, getting drafted and deciding to go to school instead. That's you're passing up on an opportunity you might not ever get again. So that's a that's a gamble for sure. And so that was one of the things that played into the decision when during twenty twenty, when the round was the draft was cut short and I didn't get drafted, when I had to consider if I wanted to, you know, go back to college for one more year or drop out and sign as a free agent, it's kind of came down to that is that I've said no to this opportunity once before. I might not have another opportunity to go play pro baseball, but it's a lot easier to, you know, be able to have an opportunity to go back and finish your college degree. So you strike me as a very deliberate person, a very thoughtful person that doesn't ride on emotions. when when you were not drafted in twenty twenty, because they cut the round short, it was cut it to five. Was there any disappointment in God or did you ask God like what are you doing? I mean, for sure. Like if you, you know, turn it down in high school and you're like, I'm gonna draw it up, I'm gonna go to school for three years, I'm gonna develop, I'm gonna get better, and I'm gonna be a better product by the time the draft goes around, like obviously I'm gonna get drafted higher. Like that just that's how that simple, arrogant math works out. and so for one, for me not to develop maybe as I had hoped, and then two, to not actually have the opportunity to get drafted because it was only five rounds, is a bit of a wake up call. It's like, okay, there's, you know, that is taken out of my control. and yet it was a way better option for that to happen that way, because I got to actually talk with different teams and I got the opportunity to find an org that was a really good fit for me and one that's renowned for their ability to develop pitchers. And so I got to drop out of actual school and go to baseball school and just try and learn everything I could. What was it like making your major league debut in twenty twenty four? It was it was very special. I mean, I hadn't seen my family in a long time. because I had had, you know, residency issues where I wasn't allowed to travel and my dad had heart surgery. so they were able to come down rather miraculously, honestly. And to be able to I mean, get to see them again was super, super special. So that was going on and then to make my debut was very, very cool. I mean probably one of last people to be able to debut in the Oakland Coliseum, which is a cool thing to say. Yeah, that is a very cool thing to say. On your glove, you have First Corinthians six eleven. What does that mean? And then what do you hope to achieve with with that inscription on your glove? Well, I think if I had more character space, I would put First Corinthians six nine to eleven because I think that that's important as well. Verses nine and ten is a statement of universal condemnation. It's a a list of all various different ways that we've sinned and Every person who reads that is guilty of multiple ones of them. And so it's just highlights the need for a savior. verse 11 would be my favorite one because it says, and that's what some of you were, but you were washed, you were justified, you were sanctified by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. And so the way that I look at it is that that's an identity statement for me. So I'm not a pitcher. It's I pitch. It's something I do, it's not something I define that defines me. Right? So the things that define me actually are the fact that I'm washed, justified, and sanctified. That doesn't change whether I go give up a million runs or whether I have a clean inning and strike out three guys and walk off and everyone thinks I'm the hero. That doesn't define me. What defines me is what Christ has done for me. And so that's why I think I can be so sable and calm and collected is because that's something that's steady outside of baseball. You've converted thirty out of thirty-four saves this year, which is pretty good. I mean, you've been you've been a great closer this year for your team that's competing for a division. But then I know as a competitor, those four probably get to you. You probably think about certain pitches that you should have thrown or should not have thrown. how do you handle adversity when it comes to you on the field? Handling the highs and lows goes back to my identity, right? Like if my identity is stable, I can handle the highs and lows and still be the same person for for my wife, for my family, for the guys who are in the clubhouse, the guys with bullpen. but yeah, absolutely. I mean there's in the in the moment when it happens, you look back and you wish you could do something differently or it hadn't worked out that way. but I mean that's the beauty of baseball. It's the beauty of being in the bullpen is that you go down after the game, you you I don't know, walk it through, review it, see what what was inside your control, what was outside of your control, try and learn from it, good or bad, and then you flush it. Like forget it. There's a new game tomorrow. I could pitch again tomorrow. Like that's one of my favorite things about the bullpen is you have a bad one, just get ready to pitch tomorrow. So Being able to move on and have that kind of short memory, is another, you know, very helpful thing. When you take the mound out here, when people see you coming from the bullpen in a in a close game, obviously they want you to to win and that's what you want to do as well. What else do you hope people see in you? My I think my f my focus is so small at those moments that like I'm not concerned with the appearance of how things are going, you know. It's I think that f that focus is way too encompassing when I'm running into a game to worry about what people are thinking. And that's fine. again, like what they think, what they say, that's not gonna define me. So if there was anything that they were gonna say, I'd hope that they'd see that calmness, they'd see that steadiness. And if there's any kind of association or pursuit of the cause of that, it they'd be the first on my glove might be the first thing they see, or things like this would be something they hear. Who is Jesus to you? And why should anyone that's hearing your voice, whether they're a sports stand or not, why should anyone follow him? I mean, he's he's my savior. He's done all the work, right? There's nothing that I could do that could ever earn my salvation. And he knows that. And the God of the universe loves me to the point that he sent his son to die on cross for me to bring me into a relationship with him. So I mean, I think that an encouragement from that would be that there is hope. Still, right? Like, you hear Paul talk about him being the chief of sinners, that he's done, you know, he's the worst of them all, right? And I think that there's a there's a degree of that where it's like you look at it and you go, Look, I haven't actually killed anybody. I'm not as bad as Paul, and Jesus saved Paul, so there's hope for me. Or we could look at that with humility and be like, I'm the worst sinner. Like I'm the only one who knows the depth of my wickedness and Jesus still saved me. There's hope for you. There's hope for anybody else, right? So I think that that'd be the big thing is that there's you're not too far gone, right? The the value of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is sufficient. Amen to that. We we talked to Parker during All Star Week as well. We're getting ready to talk to Parker as soon as we're done here. he has mentioned about how thankful he is to have a guy like you in the clubhouse. Do you feel a responsibility as a as a believer to maybe not necessarily to make sure that everyone becomes believers, but to be a kind of a steady voice, a leader, that if they if they have an opportunity, if you have an opportunity to share the the gospel with them, absolutely. I know that my responsibility is not to change people's hearts or minds because that's that's the work of the Holy Spirit to do. But I recognize that if I proclaim myself a Christian and that means that I represent Christ. I am his ambassador. So my conduct should reflect that. that no one should be able to look at me and equate that with the God that I serve and be like, I don't want any part of that God, right? If if I'm a hypocrite, if I'm deceitful or unsteady or things like that, they're gonna be like, that's the God he serves, and the God he serves must be deceitful or wicked or unsteady. And that's not the case. So I I I think that that's well warranted to feel the burden of being consistent with the faith I proclaim. Cade, last question for you. And I know because you're you're only a couple of years into your big league career, but I ask a lot of guys this in that when it's all said and done, somewhere down the line, 10 years from now, 15 years from now, hopefully, if God gives you that long, what do you hope people say about you? Individually, my goal was always to try and reach my potential, to maximize the potential that God has given me. And growing up, like high middle school, high school, college, if I could maximize the potential that God has given me and not be good enough to make it to the major leagues, I could walk away with no regrets. Right. As I'm here, there's still that pursuit to maximize my potential, c continue to learn. How do I fight and claw for those last couple inches and the the super small edges, right? So that personally would be I guess the pursuit in this is to maximize the potential what God has given me so that it honors Him. As far as what other people might say about me, again, I I would like to think that I'm not too shaken by that. But I would hope that my career and my work ethic and the way that I conduct myself is reflective of the fact that this does not define me. That I am defined by something greater. And sturdier than baseball. Hey, men to that. Listen, we'll be praying for you. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you for your time. Yeah. Appreciate it. What I love about Cade's story is the twists and the turns. He wanted to quit baseball in high school because it wasn't going well. He thought maybe he'd become a doctor. He wasn't ultimately drafted when he wanted to be. But Cade turned his disappointment into an all-star career that's still being written. Cade's trust is in Christ, not to make him a better baseball player, but in his day-to-day walk with him, knowing that God wants what's best for Kate. Now, Kate is very thoughtful and deliberate in his routines and his attitudes. It's the way he attacks his baseball career, and he's the same in the way that he lives out his faith. Some of us can get caught up in our feelings. We can begin to think that our experience somehow is what's most important. And while God cares about our happiness, He's most concerned with our holiness. And Jesus Christ has done everything to settle that issue by dying on the cross for us. All we have to do is repent and trust him, turn from our sins imperfectly. And he'll give us a new heart with new desires. Even when our emotions and feelings begin telling us what's true, the gospel points us to the truth. And we can trust the greatest source of truth, the God of the Bible. In the person of Jesus Christ. Well, if you enjoyed this podcast, please follow us. Also, check out our weekly sports show with guests, Fuel the Fire with Will Dawson. You can watch this podcast on YouTube. And we have feature stories with athletes as well as video shorts we think you'll enjoy. And we're on social media, on Instagram, we're at CBN Sports underscore. Just search for us on Facebook, X, and TikTok. And until next week, we'll see you then.