Guardians broadcaster has a wild analysis after Drew Smyly's rough Cubs' inning

Chicago Cubs reliever Drew Smyly was the victim of a monstrous home run from Guardians outfielder Jhonskensy Noel, prompting a bizarre analysis from color analyst Rick Manning.

After Noel, whose nickname is Big Christmas, sent a hanging breaking ball over the left field wall for a long home run, Manning commented that Smyly "wants to kill himself" after the play.

The call was pretty over the top for the situation, as the Guardians took a one-run lead in the sixth inning of an interleague game. While it was certainly a bad pitch and Noel made Smyly pay for it, saying that the southpaw wants to kill himself is fairly extreme.

What's more, Smyly is quietly having a great year out of the Cubs bullpen. Even after Noel's dinger, Smyly's ERA sits at a stellar 2.83 over 47.2 innings pitched this season. The 35-year-old is likely heading into free agency this offseason and he should get himself a solid deal if he continues to pitch well.

Will Smyly return to the Cubs next year?

Smyly does have a $10 million mutual option for 2025 that should be considered given his production, but I expect the team would rather invest that money elsewhere considering Smyly is not a starter anymore. That being said, a reunion wouldn't surprise me given the team's lack of lefties. If he is willing to take a less lucrative deal and stay in the bullpen permanently.

Aside from Smyly, the only other left-handed reliever who has gotten a look this year was Luke Little, who was sidelined indefinitely with a lat injury in July. Before he went down, Little saw flashes of success thanks to his velocity and pitch mix, but the 23-year-old struggled with command issues. The other main weapon the Cubs used against left-handed bats was Mark Leiter Jr., who was traded to the Yankees at the deadline.

Whether Smyly stays or leaves in free agency, bullpen upgrades will likely be a big focus of the Cubs' offseason.