SEATTLE — Cade Smith demonstrated remarkable composure Friday after a potentially catastrophic moment on the field when a line drive struck the Guardians reliever’s cap instead of his face, in what turned out to be a fortunate near-miss.

The play took place in the fifth inning of Seattle’s 7-2 win when Rowdy Tellez sent a sharply hit ball straight back at Smith with an exit velocity of 106.6 mph according to Statcast. Instead of striking Smith directly in the face, the ball hit the brim of his cap, folding it drastically but sparing Smith from what could have been a serious injury.

Smith’s immediate reaction was to pick up his hat and check the PitchComm device, which had fallen to the turf.

“And then I saw that (Tellez) was still running around at second,” Smith recalled of his immediate reaction. “So I kind of realized the play was still live at that point.”

What made the play particularly remarkable is how Smith’s hat absorbed the impact. When asked about examining his cap after the play, Smith explained, “When I picked up my hat and saw how folded the brim was, that was pretty good indication that actually it did take the brunt of the effect.”

This is not the first time Smith has been saved by his cap on the field. Back when he was playing first base at the middle school level a teammate threw a ball that Smith lost in the sun. But like Friday, the ball hit the brim of his cap and he avoided any serious injury.

Smith attributes his safety to more than just luck. “For probably as long as I’ve been playing baseball, before each game, my parents will pray for a hedge of protection and that God will keep the ball away from my head and heart,” Smith said. “I know that that has not stopped, and I think that it’s very fortunate because it was a matter of inches.”

After the incident, medical staff promptly conducted standard tests to ensure Smith hadn’t suffered any injury. “Just the balance, chest and eyes closed and stuff like, you know, obviously knowing where I am and what day it is and things like that,” Smith explained about the evaluation process. “And, you know, there’s no throbbing, no pain, nothing out of the ordinary.”

Also impressive was Smith’s decision to remain in the game after he was checked out by manager Stephen Vogt and team trainers, demonstrating exceptional mental fortitude. “I genuinely felt normal,” he insisted. “That’s what I kept telling them is that, all things considered, I feel normal.”

Vogt said Smith was unflappable, coming back to strike out Dominic Canzone to end the fifth.

“I’ll tell you what, that kid, nothing shakes him, he was completely calm,” Vogt said. “A couple warmup pitches, slow down, and then he punches the next guy out. You never want to see anybody get hurt out on a baseball field, but it seems like we avoided anything with Cade.”

One of Smith’s immediate concerns after the incident was for his family members who were in attendance after driving down about two hours from his hometown of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.

“I needed to make sure that they knew I was OK and that they didn’t have to freak out and stress out in the stands because I knew that that’s what they were doing,” he said.

Smith embraced the challenge of getting back on the mound so quickly, seeing it as crucial to his overall success.

“The game is full of ups and downs,” Smith said. “How you react to them, how you handle them, is going to affect your ability to ride them out and continue to compete.”

Generative AI was used to organize information for this story.