Guardians Closer Loses Out in Close Race for MLB Award

The Cleveland Guardians were simply hoping that Cade Smith could hold up for an entire season as a big-league closer. He got a taste of being the go-to pitcher in the ninth inning at the end of 2025, but that was under unforeseen and frustrating circumstances.

One year into Cade’s career as a closer, it’s clear he’s just as effective, and in some cases even better, as a closer as he is as a setup man.

Cleveland’s pitcher was named a finalist for a new MLB award for the 2026 season: Relief Pitcher of the Year.

The winner of the award was announced on Wednesday night, and Smith just missed out on taking home the hardware. He lost out to Toronto Blue Jays closer Louis Valand.

The final voting for the award proved how close the race was.

Valand finished with a total of 146 points, thanks to 16 first-place votes, four second-place votes, and five third-place votes. Cade had a total of 133 points after receiving seven first-place votes, 15 second-place votes, and eight third-place votes.

Every voter, of course, has their own reason for why they chose the way they did. However, looking at the numbers, it really looks and feels like Smith was snubbed for this award.

Varland’s 1.27 ERA was slightly better than Smith’s 1.95. However, Cade led the American League with 107 strikeouts, while the Blue Jays pitcher only had 97. Varland may have accumulated more WAR, but Cleveland’s closer had seven more saves than him, with a total of 41. Smith also had the better WHIP at 0.959.

You could go down the entire list of comparisons of each player’s stats.

We may never know the voters’ rationale for the primary placing Varland ahead of Smith, but based on the final stats, it looks like WAR played a role.

Cleveland’s pitcher only had a WAR of 2.9 during the 2026 season, while the Blue Jays’ arm finished with 3.6. That’s a pretty significant difference, especially for a pitcher.

At the end of the day, Cade may not have won the award, but he still proved himself to be one of the best overall pitchers in all of baseball.

Cleveland’s closer even received some votes in the Cy Young race, and that’s not something only other pitchers in the Relief Pitcher of the Year competition can say, and it wasn’t Varland.