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Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has made three consecutive MLB All-Star teams. He has led the league in saves for three consecutive seasons. His 2024 campaign was nothing short of ridiculous, as the Cleveland closer turned in a jaw-dropping 0.61 ERA while finishing the year with a career-high 47 saves. Clase even finished third in American League Cy Young voting last year.
The pitcher who had never recorded an ERA of above 3.22 in any season of his career looks like a completely different hurler in 2025, though. So what's going on?
On Sunday, the Guardians held a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning in Pittsburgh against a Pirates team that has struggled all season long. Even though Clase was set to appear in his third straight game, confidence would have been extremely high in any other season. However, there was a feeling of uncertainty when Clase entered the game on Sunday.
Sure enough, the Guardians closer surrendered three runs and the Pirates tied the game. A 6-4-3 double play got Clase and Cleveland out of the inning with the game tied — and the Guardians went on to earn a 5-4 win to finish a series sweep — but the best closer in MLB has concerns that are becoming impossible to ignore.
Although the Guardians played well against the Pirates, all attention is on the closer at the moment. The ball club understands that they need Emmanuel Clase to be, well, Emmanuel Clase in order to make a serious postseason run.
Let's take a look at why Clase has struggled to replicate his previous success so far in 2025.
What's wrong with MLB's best closer Emmanuel Clase?
Before we dive into the matter, here is what Chris Rose of Jomboy Media (Rose is also a Guardians fan) shared about the situation on X, formerly Twitter.
“Clase's greatest strength last year was getting easy outs early in counts. This year, Clase has already allowed multiple-hit innings 5x's. He didn't do that until mid Aug 2024, in his 55th appearance,” Rose wrote.
There have been far too many runners on base consistently without question. Clase isn't missing bats like he did a season ago. Hitters entered Sunday's game batting .390 against the star pitcher.
Yet, Clase's 4.3 walk rate is below his MLB career 4.8 average, so it isn't as if he's not throwing strikes. The strikes that he is throwing simply aren't as effective as in past years.
Clase has a career-high 41.2 hard-hit percentage against. His previous career-high was 38.2 percent. He's producing weak contact less than three percent of the time. Clase had previously never produced weak contact less than four percent of the time.
The hope is that nothing is wrong and Clase is simply in the middle of a slump. His average cutter (his best pitch) velocity has declined, but only by less than one mile per hour. His average velocity on the pitch was over 99 MPH a season ago, while it is checking it at under 99 MPH this year. That isn't necessarily a huge concern, but it is something to monitor.
Sometimes, there is an answer based on in-depth analysis. Other times, the answer is pretty clear. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt has said that Clase is missing over the heart of the plate too often, and that does indeed appear to be the case in this specific situation.
Has Clase moved past 2024 postseason struggles?
At 27 years old, Clase is still in his prime. One has to imagine his underperformance isn't a sign of true decline. However, one may also wonder if Clase has moved past his struggles in the 2024 playoffs.
Clase has certainly been terrific over the past few seasons, but his 2024 playoff performance was less than ideal. He turned in a 9.00 ERA across seven outings. The fact of the matter is that only Clase knows if he's truly moved on, but there is no denying the fact that he hasn't looked like himself on the mound since before last October.
The Guardians won't give up on Emmanuel Clase anytime soon. His track record is far too impressive to move on after a difficult few weeks. As the MLB season continues to heat up, though, Clase will need to figure things out sooner rather than later.
More news from around the MLB world
- The New York Mets are playing at a high level and lead the NL East. Juan Soto went 2-3 with 3 RBI in a Sunday 7-4 win against the St. Louis Cardinals. Following a slow start, perhaps Soto is getting things going at the plate.
- New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried lost a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday in bizarre fashion. After finishing seven innings of no-hit baseball, the official scorer changed an error from the sixth inning to a hit. The moment led to frustration from the Yankees, but New York won the game 4-0.
- The Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles agreed to a trade on Sunday, the Braves announced. As part of the deal, Atlanta added right-handed pitcher Scott Blewett while Baltimore received cash considerations. Braves pitcher Jose Suarez was ultimately designated for assignment as well.
- Fernando Tats Jr. hit another home run against the Houston Astros on Sunday night. The San Diego Padres lead the NL West and Tatis is set to make a serious MVP run.
- Sandy Alcantara trade rumors continue to swirl. Teams such as the New York Mets or Toronto Blue Jays could be good fits for the former Cy Young winner.
- Speaking of teams that could find themselves in the Sandy Alcantara trade sweepstakes, the Chicago Cubs look like a realistic MLB contender. They currently lead the NL Central and are playing inspired baseball overall. Will Chicago compete with the best teams in the National League? Only time will tell, but this Cubs ball club should be taken seriously.
- Finally, is this the year the Houston Astros fall out of contention? They are near the bottom of the AL West and expectations are not especially high. It is early in the season and counting the Astros out is always risky, but Houston may fall out of postseason contention this season.
Joey Mistretta's “Mistretta's Musings” provides the latest news and analysis from around the MLB world. Be sure to check in every week to read new editions of the column.
