The Cleveland Guardians entered the 2024 MLB season with the best closer in all of baseball.
Unfortunately, Emmanuel Clase hasn’t necessarily lived up to that hype this season.
If anything, his struggles started right on Opening Day, when he blew a save in the bottom of the ninth against the Kansas City Royals.
Overall, he posted a 6.75 ERA in 14 games in March and April, allowing 23 hits and ten runs (all earned) over 13.1 innings pitched.
Nevertheless, despite his well-documented issues this season, David Schoenfield isn’t too worried about him, and he believes it’s just a matter of time before he gets back to his usual dominant self:
“Overall, Clase should be fine. He did go through a similar season in 2023, when he went 3-9 with a 3.22 ERA and allowed 68 hits in 72⅔ innings. Those losses were mostly a matter of bad luck — a lot of soft ground balls in extra innings that went through the infield and allowed ghost runners to score. This year, the issue has been more about location. The stuff is still there, so look for Clase to be fine the rest of the way,” Schoenfield wrote.
Clase has looked better in his past five outings.
He’s logged four saves and one win while allowing just one earned run.
We’re talking about a player who gave up just 10 runs (five earned) last season and finished the year with a 4-2 record, 47 saves in 50 chances, and a 0.61 ERA.
Clase’s struggles began in the postseason, more specifically, in the ALCS against the New York Yankees.
Stephen Vogt has been quite optimistic about him, and while he was demoted at one point in the season, his status as the team’s closer was never in doubt.
It has taken him much longer than anticipated, but given his talent and proven record in this league, there should be no doubt that Clase will be back to his dominant ways sooner rather than later.
It’s not a matter of whether it will happen, but how soon it will happen.
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