The Cleveland Guardians used right-hander Cade Smith to close out games this week, on Monday and Tuesday, against the New York Yankees.
He successfully got both saves and offered Guardians fans a smooth ninth-inning experience, with no scares.
They certainly missed that: closer Emmanuel Clase was that guy for them last year, but he is off to a horrible start in 2025 and has accumulated a worrisome 7.84 ERA.
Seeing Smith out there on Tuesday with Clase having rested for a couple of days was puzzling, to say the least, and fans thought there was a closer change coming.
Manager Stephen Vogt said last night that the team wanted to give Clase two days of rest, which is why he wasn’t used on Tuesday.
There is more to the story, though.
“Vogt said Clase came out of his outing on Sunday with shoulder discomfort. It was his 3rd straight day with an appearance and he threw 30 pitches. Clase was down last two games. He played catch today and Guardians will know his availability today around gametime,” team insider Tim Stebbins posted on X.
Vogt said Clase came out of his outing on Sunday with shoulder discomfort. It was his 3rd straight day with an appearance and he threw 30 pitches.
Clase was down last two games. He played catch today and Guardians will know his availability today around gametime.
— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) April 23, 2025
Shoulder discomfort is not something to take lightly.
The team should have been more transparent about Clase’s health status if they didn’t want people to ‘read anything into’ the fact that Smith was used in consecutive save chances like Vogt said after Tuesday’s game.
Cleveland is expected to determine Clase’s availability for Wednesday and the upcoming days within the next few hours.
A stint on the injured list might be required, but he could also be back as soon as Wednesday.
Stay tuned.
NEXT: Bruce Drennan Raves About Guardians Utilityman
