Guardians Closer Showing Promising Signs After Rough Start

Emmanuel Clase's start to the 2025 season has been less than stellar for his standard.

After allowing just five earned runs last year, Clase gave up that many before April 12, and there were legit questions about whether he had lost his job as the Cleveland Guardians' closer when Cade Smith took the mound for three straight games against the New York Yankees.

Still, despite the struggles, Stephen Vogt made it clear Clase was the Guardians' guy for the ninth inning.

After sitting out five days due to shoulder discomfort at the end of April, Clase is showing some very encouraging signs that he's turning his season around.

In Clase's last five games, the closer has an ERA of 1.80 and a 0.80 WHIP. He's also recorded three saves over that stretch.

Emmanuel Clase celebrates after pitching — Apr 26, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase (48) celebrates after pitching a scoreless eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

One of the concerns early in the season was Clase's lack of command, but he's done a much better job of controlling the strike zone over the last week and a half.

Since April 26, Clase has had a strikeout percentage of 31.6 percent and hasn't issued a single walk.

He's finally getting some more swing-and-miss and doing a better job of limiting hard contact. During this same stretch, Clase hasn't given up any barreled or hard-hit balls.

So, is Clase back to his 2024 form? Not quite yet.

The closer has done a much better job of limiting contact, but when opposing hitters put the ball in play, they're doing damage.

Clase's BABIP is .442 this season, which is still .308 over the last five appearances.

There's still work to do, but many signs point to Clase being close to returning to the dominant closer the Guardians have had the last few seasons.

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