AL DIVISION SERIES: WHITE SOX VS GUARDIANS

October 10, 2026

Cade Smith

Progressive Field

Cleveland Guardians

Pregame 5 Press Conference

Q. Cade, just overall, how are you feeling coming into a game like this and obviously getting a bit more of a workload out in Chicago?

CADE SMITH: Yeah. Feeling really good. Really excited. I think boys as a group are ready to go, and I'm looking forward to tonight.

Q. You worked multiple innings, back to backs, two out of three, three out of four, how much especially this time of the year do the routines you've established play into helping you withstand that this time of year?

CADE SMITH: I mean, I think that at this point they continue to be cemented for what they are. Like they've been so important to me through the summer, through multiple years that there's nothing that I'm going to change or give up on with them.

It's a big reason why I've been able to be as consistently healthy as I have been, I think. So I'm going to stick with them.

Q. Cade, maybe more broadly, not just you personally, but fans probably don't understand or appreciate enough what the training staff does to help you guys can get ready on back to backs.

Can you shine a little light on what the last 24 hours looked like for you and how they've been able to help you guys in general stay healthy?

CADE SMITH: Yeah. The training staff are some of the hardest working people in our building. They're the first ones in. They're some of the last ones out. Not only do they take care of stuff with us hands on, but they have a lot of paperwork to do afterwards.

Yeah, I mean, going from a back to back, things like that, it does really -- I stick with my routine, what works for me. I have a schedule for how I want my week to look like, what I'm going to lift, what I am going to do, various different arm care programs, things like that. And I try and react to whether or not I pitch as far as some of the recovery stuff and really be attentive to how I'm feeling with that.

But I mean, they're super helpful. Anything I need, like anything we need that we go in there and ask for, they're bending over backwards to make sure we have to be the best versions of ourselves.

Q. Cade, did you feel in Game 3 and 4 how you were used was a bit unusual or is that just how maybe the postseason influencing you coming in in the eighth inning with a non-save situation in Game 3 and pitching two innings?

CADE SMITH: I mean, this is the postseason. This is do or die. Every game matters. It's the embodiment of that statement that it's all hands on deck.

So there's been conversations with the coaching staff and with Vogter about what to expect. So I'm on the same page as them, but what I told them is I want to help the team win in whatever capacity I can to the best of my ability.

So it's all hands on deck. I'm trying to be as consistent with my words, with my actions, as I can be and make sure that I'm ready for when that phone rings for my name whenever it is.

Q. When it came to Game 4, was there a conversation ahead of time that you might pitch multiple innings or did it just happen in the moment?

CADE SMITH: I mean, the conversation was before the series, you have an understanding of what I'm looking forward to, what I'm expecting to be used. And nothing was surprising or deviated from that.

And then they let me know a little bit, Caleb let me know a little in the bullpen about some specifics, but it was nothing like surprising. Out of the ordinary, sure, but that's the time of year it is.

Q. What do you expect tonight if you're used?

CADE SMITH: Same thing. It's all hands on deck. I mean, a whole bunch of weird things are happening. Gavin pitching Game 4 after me and then he's starting tonight. Now we have a whole bunch of starters hanging out in the bullpen with us. So it's really all hands on deck.

Q. Speaking of that, Cade, you've always been all about like I'm ready whenever they need me, like not just tonight obviously. Then Gavin doing what you just mentioned, like how much has that mentality kind of spread throughout the entire pitching staff?

CADE SMITH: I mean, I think it's spread beyond our pitching staff to our clubhouse as a whole. I think that we do a whole bunch of things, pinch hitting and pinching running and defensive replacements and mixing up the lineup.

And you have every single guy in there bought in, whether that means that they're being taken out of the lineup or put in, taken out of the game or put into the game, that they're ready to do whatever is asked so that we can win as a team.

So things like that, starters coming down to help out the bullpen, like that speaks to that same mentality, that what matters is that we win this game and then we'll worry about the next game after.

Q. What's that moment like for you when you're at 31 pitches in the ninth inning and Vogter is coming out and you know that now Gavin has gotta come in behind you, what was your reaction to that moment?

CADE SMITH: I mean, it doesn't feel good, right? Like as a reliever, our job is to go out there and put up a zero and finish your inning, and I think there's a lot of guys down there including myself who take great pride in that, in being able to get through the inning and also do so without anybody having to warm up even behind me.

So for me to go through that and to be taken out and Gavin to come in behind me, it's not something I'm pleased with myself of, because I feel like I didn't complete my job as I could have. But for him to come in behind me, pick me up, like that's something that you appreciate, because as a bullpen, like you don't get through a whole season without being picked up by the guys around you.

And to have guys that are all around you, who you know are going to come in and pick you up the same way that you'd come in and pick them up, that's one of the things that draws that group together, and the guys have come down and hung out in the bullpen with us the last couple of days have done a great job of buying into that, and I for one really appreciate that.

Q. Cade, how much does adrenaline take over in the postseason and maybe offset whatever fatigue you or any other pitcher might be feeling at this time of year?

CADE SMITH: I think it's so much more fun. Like it's so much fun to play in these environments, in these ballparks. You know, to play in the atmosphere where it's sold out and where every pitch matters, and the fans know it and they're loud and involved is so much fun.

Like this is what you -- this is what we work all year for, to have the opportunity to play on these stages and to play these meaningful games.

Q. How would you critique Gavin Williams' performance in the ninth inning, Cade?

CADE SMITH: I mean, he did his job. I am super grateful for that, the fact that he came in and picked me up and locked down the win, I mean, that's all you can ask for this time of year is winning the game, right?

Everything that everybody in the clubhouse is doing is centered around that single objective.