Guardians' Clase makes case for Cy Young
Cleveland closer buzzes through batters — and bats — to post a stingy 0.65 ERA
Emmanuel Clase is breaking bats and records at an almost equal rate.
He's become baseball's grim reaper, the cream of the closer crop. Cleveland's right-hander with a devilish cut fastball not seen since Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera's dominant days with the New York Yankees is having a season to remember. Maybe one that includes winning the Cy Young, a rarity for relievers.
On Monday night, Clase earned his MLB-leading 46th save — his 33rd straight since May 20 to tie Jose Mesa's single-season team record — as the Guardians inched closer to an unexpected AL Central title by rallying for a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins.
The game followed a familiar script: another Cleveland comeback (the club's 40th), followed by Clase.
Progressive Field may be the only place in the majors where if the bullpen door in right field swings open in the ninth inning, it's game over.
It's been that way was all season. Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez knows the drill. Once he hears Clase's entrance song blaring through the ballpark's sound system and sees his teammate jogging across the outfield grass with his braided, coloured hair bouncing out of the back of his cap, there's only one thing left to do.
“I feel like I'm going to go home early,” Gimenez said. “Honestly, it's been absolutely incredible this year, and in the last three years. It's just unbelievable, saving 40 games each season. It's crazy. It's special.”
Crazy. Special. Unfathomable. Unhittable.
Clase is posting statistics that almost seem imaginary. He's allowed just five earned runs in 691/3 innings, a 0.65 ERA that along with his conversion percentage on saves (94 per cent) has put Clase firmly in the conversation for AL Cy Young consideration.
His advanced stats also separate Clase from most pitchers, and the fact that he's done it for a Cleveland team that has led its division since early April makes the 26-year-old — already the Guardians career saves leader — an even stronger candidate.
But it goes beyond the numbers with Clase, who would likely be leading the majors in broken bats if the stat was kept.
He wants the ball every day, craves it. Last month, after Clase pitched on four consecutive days, first-year Guardians manager Stephen Vogt made him stay in the dugout so there would be no chance of him pitching.
The AL hasn't had a reliever win the award since Oakland's Dennis Eckersley in 1992. Eric Gagne was the last NL reliever to win after saving 55 games in 2003.
There's been a reluctance among writers to vote for a specialist, perhaps baseball's equivalent to a defensive player winning the Heisman Trophy in college football. But Clase has built a strong case to end the drought.
Vogt certainly thinks so. “The way I look at the Cy Young is like the MVP,” Vogt said. “It's the most valuable pitcher, and what Emmanuel means to us and to our team, 100 per cent he should be in consideration. But that's my opinion on it. I don't get to vote, and I'm a little biased.”
Vogt should be, but with every flailing strikeout and splintered bat, Clase, who saved 86 games the past two seasons, has gained the respect of hitters and managers across both leagues.
“He's elite. He's one of the game's best, if not the best,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said on a recent stop in Cleveland. “There's not a whole lot you can say that he doesn't do well. He gets righties and lefties out. Puts the ball on the ground. There's very little damage. There's strikeouts. Clearly, he loves that moment. He doesn't flinch from any moment. He can go multiple innings if he needs to. I think every team would love to have someone like that.”
Quatraro chuckled when asked what his approach would be against Clase.
“Me? I'd try to get hit. Do a Rudi Stein from `Bad News Bears,'” Quatraro said, referring to the glasses-wearing film character urged by his manager to take one for the team.
Not a bad game plan.
For his part, Clase remains humble and unfazed by his success and the attention that has come with it.
“I just see it as my role,” he said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero. “I know that's the time I'm going to come in and pitch, and I have to prepare to perform in those situations.”
Closers are unique, performing under immense pressure on a virtual tight rope where one mistake can be costly. Clase has walked it for months with barely a wobble.
Whether he's earned any awards is for others to decide.
“I think the numbers speak for themselves,” he said. “To get to that point, you have to work throughout the season. So far, I've been able to put up those type of numbers.”