The Cleveland Guardians might have a Cy Young candidate on their roster this season.
No, it’s not a starting pitcher, although Tanner Bibee and Ben Lively have done a good job so far.
It’s closer Emmanuel Clase.
It’s not easy for a reliever to be considered a Cy Young award candidate: you must be incredibly dominant and much better than fellow bullpen arms around the league.
Fortunately for Clase and the Guardians, he fills the criteria.
He was recently named the American League’s Reliever of the Month, and it’s easy to see why.
The Guardians threw the question out there: should we talk about him as a legitimate threat to be crowned the best pitcher in the junior circuit when everything is said and done?
“Emmanuel Clase has been named AL Reliever of the Month for July. Is it okay to start talking about his Cy Young case yet?” they tweeted.
Emmanuel Clase has been named AL Reliever of the Month for July.
Is it okay to start talking about his Cy Young case yet?#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/aKU4UWxaYI
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) August 3, 2024
Clase has a 0.70 ERA in 51.1 innings, having allowed just four earned runs all year.
He also has 33 saves to his name and projects to finish the season well over 40.
He is this close to becoming the Guardians all-time leader in saves, and it would be cool if he got the Cy Young recognition he deserves.
Names like Tarik Skubal and Corbin Burnes understandably get more press because they are starting pitchers and log more innings.
You can easily make a case that Clase has been much, much more dominant, albeit in significantly fewer innings because of his role.
Clase is, evidently, in a class of his own and had a phenomenal July to prove it yet again.
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