For the second time in three days, a University of Hawai'i baseball player signed a free agent contract with an MLB team. Junior pitcher
Cade Smith signed with the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday and is the third Rainbow Warrior this offseason to be offered a contract by a major league club.
Smith is the third Rainbow Warrior pitcher to get a call this offseason and take the team up on the offer. The right-handed pitcher joins redshirt junior
Carter Loewen (San Diego Padres, UDFA) and
Jeremy Wu-Yelland (Boston Red Sox, 4th Rd) as the three MLB signees or draftees thus far in 2020.
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The Vancouver, B.C., Canada native threw in 34 total games for Hawai'i over his three years in Manoa with 15 starts and a career ERA of 4.54. Smith struck out 113 batters in 117.0 total innings.
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As a junior, Smith started 2020 a part of the starting rotation before throwing out of the bullpen in his final three appearances of the year. Smith's 3.48 ERA as a reliever was highlighted by a career-high nine strikeout appearance against Oregon on March 7.
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In his sophomore season, the righty finished with a 2-2 record over 59.2 innings pitched with seven starts. As a freshman, started six of his 13 games played and struck out 37 batters in 39 innings.
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Three or more Rainbow Warriors have been drafted or signed free agent contracts with MLB clubs in three of the last four years.Â
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