Will Emmanuel Clase win the 2024 American League Cy Young Award? Although it is rare for closers to win the award, Clase is making a strong case for himself. He shut the door on the Kansas City Royals in the Cleveland Guardians' 7-5 win on Wednesday, tying Cody Allen for the most saves in Cleveland baseball franchise history in the process, per Bally Sports Cleveland. Clase's ERA is 0.58 and he now has a league-leading 39 saves in 2024.

Clase is having a truly unbelievable season. In fact, Clase has even drawn comparisons to New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera.

Clase has been the MVP of the Guardians' 2024 season. The star closer has played a massive role in Cleveland's success. Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor have led the offense, but Cleveland's lineup has been inconsistent at times. The Guardians' starting rotation has been quite unreliable in 2024.

Clase and the bullpen have kept the Guardians in games, though. Without Clase, Cleveland probably would not be where they are in the standings. Following Wednesday's win, the Guardians are back at the top of the American League Central standings.

With that being said, they lead the Royals by just one game. The Guardians have work to do in order to win the division.

Guardians hoping to get back on track

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Cleveland had lost seven of their past 10 games heading into Wednesday's affair. The Guardians have endured a number of frustrations during the month of August. Perhaps Wednesday's victory will help the team recapture the moment they had during the first-half of the '24 campaign.

However, Cleveland's schedule will present a challenge over the next couple of weeks. The Guardians will play a struggling Pittsburgh Pirates team at home over the weekend, but then Cleveland will embark on a nine-game road trip.

The road trip will begin in Kansas City against the Royals. Then, the Guardians will head to Los Angeles to battle the Dodgers. Things will get easier over the final three games as Cleveland will play the abysmal Chicago White Sox. Nevertheless, the trip projects to be quite challenging overall.

As long as Emmanuel Clase continues to pitch at a Cy Young-caliber level, though, the Guardians should be alright.