Guardians Skipper Shares Possible Reason for Emmanuel Clase's Struggles

Emmanuel Clase has not looked like the elite closer he was in 2024, when he recorded one of the most dominant seasons by a reliever in recent memory.

The Cleveland Guardians' closer allowed nearly double the runs already this season (nine) than he did all of last year (five).

Three of those runs came in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon, allowing the Pittsburgh Pirates to tie up the game and send it into extra innings.

Cleveland took the lead in the 10th inning and still came away with the victory, but questions about Clase's struggles still remain.

Emmanuel Clase throws a pitch — Mar 27, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase (48) pitches during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Stephen Vogt reacted to Sunday's outing and offered a possible explanation for Clase's early-season struggles.

"Anytime they're finding barrels, it's just in the middle [of the zone]. The ball is just over the middle of the plate right now," said Cleveland's skipper.

This theory makes a lot sense when looking at Clase's pitch zone maps.

Emmanuel Clase's cutter heat map as of April 21, 2025. | Via: Baseball Savant

Clase's cutter is generally in one of two places: middle-right in the strike zone or off the plate to the right.

Since Clase only throws a cutter and a slider, his pitches are very predictable, and hitters are waiting for the cutter to be over the heart of the plate to swing at it.

The next question is, what is the fix?

This is something the pitching coaches will have to work through with Clase.

The good news is that the All-Star's velocity is still strong, and he still ranks in the 90th percentile in chase percentage. The stuff to be a dominant closer is still there.

One adjustment to get the ball out of the heart of the zone could be all Clase needs to get back to being the elite closer he's been over the last three seasons.

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