One of the brightest stories this season has been the Cleveland Guardians bullpen, with the scrappy group of arms posting a collective 2.57 ERA this season – which led the entire Major Leagues. Led by elite closer Emmanuel Clase, the Guardians are a force to be reckoned with. Still, the club has hit a wall against the New York Yankees in the ALCS, currently down two games early.

Amidst the successful arms in the Guardians bullpen are Canadians Cade Smith and Erik Sabrowski, who hail from Abbotsford, B.C. and Edmonton, Alta. respectively.

Smith cracked the Opening Day roster for Cleveland and has been on fire all season. In his rookie campaign, Smith has authored a 1.91 ERA through 74 games and 75 1/3 innings pitched, allowing just 51 hits and 16 earned runs all season long.

The right-hander also only allowed 17 walks during his relief appearances this year and finished the regular season with a remarkable 0.903 WHIP, a 6.1 H/9, a 2.0 BB/9, and a 12.3 K/9 – amassing 103 strikeouts. Smith likely has some competition ahead of him for the AL Rookie of the Year award but he should garner some attention in the category overall.

His Canuck counterpart Sabrowski got a later jump to his big league career – as he was called up in late August – but his story is incredible. Multiple Tommy John surgeries, sitting out the COVID-19 cancelled campaign, and being a Rule 5 Draft pick of the Guardians saw him pitch in just 64 games.

In the Major Leagues, Sabrowksi continues to find success. The left-hander struck out two batters in his big league debut and didn’t allow a single earned run through eight appearances to finish off the campaign, walking four and striking out 19.

Both players were added to the postseason roster and once again, both are finding success in Cleveland’s bullpen corps.

The right-hander was used in every game during the ALDS against Detroit, allowing just two hits and one run through 6 1/3 innings of work. Sabrowksi followed with 1 2/3 innings of his own, collecting two walks and two strikeouts with a clean sheet.

In the ALCS against the Yankees, Smith has been used just once, entering in the bottom of the second inning of Game #2 yesterday. He faced Aaron Judge immediately (sac fly to centre field) and got Austin Wells to strike out swinging before finishing a clean third inning where he faced Giancarlo Stanton, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Anthony Volpe, who went down swinging.

After six appearances, Smith has tied fellow Canadians John Axford, Paul Quantrill, and Rheal Cormier for most playoff appearances by a Canadian pitcher in a single postseason – a record he will likely break later this week. He and Sabrowski make up half of the Canadians on the squad, with Bo and Josh Naylor rounding out the group.

Sabrowski on the other hand has appeared in both games and is finding things a bit tougher in the Bronx, allowing a home run to Stanton in Game #1 and a double off Anthony Rizzo to score one in Game #2.

Regardless of the mountain that is left to climb for the Guardians in their postseason aspirations, both Smith and Sabrowski appear to be key parts of the relief corps moving forward and will continue to be called upon with regularity to finish off the year.