The Cleveland Guardians entered the 2025 MLB season with the best closer in baseball, or so they thought.
Emmanuel Clase hasn’t been that guy since the season started, and his struggles have been a major concern so far.
To add insult to injury, he’s now dealing with shoulder tightness.
Nevertheless, manager Stephen Vogt continues to assure everyone that he’s the team’s closer, even though he wasn’t featured in that role in his latest outing.
Instead, Vogt sent him to the mound to make a rare eighth-inning cameo in the win over the Boston Red Sox.
When asked about that, the Dominican hurler claimed that he was just happy to get back on the mound:
“It was a good way to get back into competition,” Clase said via interpreter Agustin Rivero. “Not just get into the high-leverage situation. So just wanting to get the sensation going, that’s what we wanted to happen.”
Clase had been out for the past five days to nurse a shoulder injury.
He looked as solid as he’s been the past three years after that brief rest.
He pitched a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts, and his fastball topped at 99.7 mph.
Clase has struggled with his command, and his cutter hasn’t kept anybody guessing this season.
Vogt stated that Clase was still the team’s closer going forward, and he stated that since they didn’t want to place him on the IL, he thought this could help him get his feet back under him.
It’s still early in the season, and given how well the team has played this year, getting him back to his former self could be the X-factor for the Guardians.
NEXT: Guardians Infielder Dealing With Left Hip Irritation
