We don't expect much from Carlos in the first month or even two. It would be nice that if changed but we Manzardo to play first and our big slugger Noel could be DH.
And sooner than later we'll have Kayfus up to share 1B/DH with Manzardo
Re: Articles
11072Emmanuel Clase, a sore shoulder and a strange week for the Guardians’ non-closing closer
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 19: Emmanuel Clase #48 of the Cleveland Guardians reacts after a 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on April 19, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
By Zack Meisel
10
April 27, 2025
CLEVELAND — Emmanuel Clase is the Guardians’ closer. He just doesn’t handle the ninth inning — for now. Maybe.
Confused? Let’s try to grasp a situation that has unfolded in puzzling fashion over the past week, one that culminated in Clase revealing he’s dealt with occasional shoulder soreness since spring training. More on that in a moment.
First, the well-documented struggles. They aren’t difficult to spot.
Clase in 2024: 74 1/3 innings, 39 hits, five earned runs
Clase in 2025: 11 1/3 innings, 20 hits, nine earned runs
His funk has not cost the Guardians any games. He has blown two save chances, but his team rallied to win both games.
His velocity hasn’t been a problem.
Clase’s cutter velocity, April 2025: 98.9 mph
Clase’s cutter velocity, April 2024: 98.5 mph
Clase’s cutter velocity, April 2023: 97.8 mph
Clase’s cutter velocity, April 2022: 99.4 mph
Manager Stephen Vogt and pitching coach Carl Willis have suggested Clase needs to mix in more sliders and be a bit more unpredictable with his usage and location. They’ve stressed the issue is command more than anything, as he has left too many cutters over the plate. The data supports that notion, as hitters are producing a higher exit velocity and hard-hit rate against Clase than they ever have.
All along, Clase’s coaches have supported him. Vogt has downplayed the struggles and offered votes of confidence when asked if he had considered stripping him of the closer role.
Still, the way in which this last week played out for Clase was … odd.
Clase worked in all three games in Pittsburgh last weekend. He needed nine pitches to secure the final out Friday. He shut down the Pirates on six pitches Saturday.
On Sunday, he squandered a three-run lead and exited after 30 pitches. An inept Pittsburgh lineup tagged him for four hits and a walk. After the outing, he mentioned to the team that his shoulder didn’t feel right, though that wouldn’t be made public for three days.
Clase was granted a day off Monday. There was no chance he would pitch for a fourth consecutive day, whether squaring off against a group of Capri Sun-guzzling T-ballers or against the mighty New York Yankees, who roughed him up during the ALCS in October.
Cade Smith sealed Cleveland’s win Monday with a strikeout of Aaron Judge. On Tuesday, Smith again handled the ninth inning of a close game, his fourth outing in five days.
After the game, Vogt said Clase had been given a second day of rest because of his weekend workload.
“We wanted to give him two days,” Vogt said. “The boys stepped up. That’s what good bullpens do. They pick each other up. This bullpen has been taxed early this year.”
Vogt was asked to clarify if Clase was healthy.
“Yeah,” Vogt said. “We wanted to give him two days after he went three in a row.”
Vogt was then asked: “So we shouldn’t read anything into this?”
“No,” he replied. “Not at all.”
Fair enough. Let’s move to Wednesday morning, ahead of the series finale against the Yankees. Vogt was asked for an update on Clase. After all, Smith was unavailable, given his recent use. Who would cover the ninth inning if the Guardians were in position for a sweep?
That’s when Vogt revealed that Clase was dealing with “shoulder discomfort,” stemming from the final game in Pittsburgh. Clase played catch Wednesday. He threw a bullpen session Thursday, the team’s off day. He played catch again Friday afternoon before the Guardians’ series opener against the Boston Red Sox was postponed because of rain.
On Saturday morning, Clase played catch in left field, with trainers monitoring his every move. Vogt said “concern” was too strong of a word to use when assessing Clase’s situation, and he doubled down on his role before the team’s doubleheader Saturday.
“We need to be thoughtful (since he hasn’t) pitched for a week,” Vogt said. “So, how we use him, we’re not sure yet. He is the closer, though.”
As Vogt described the coaches’ message to Clase, the plan was hatched “just to get you back on your feet” after five days of recovery. Clase later clarified he was informed he would pitch in either the seventh or eighth inning, and he said he welcomed the idea.
“I think it was a good way to get back to competition,” he said, via interpreter Agustín Rivero, “and not just get into the high-leverage situations just to get the sensation going.”
Clase retired Boston’s 6-7-8 hitters in order — with two strikeouts — to preserve Cleveland’s one-run lead in the eighth inning. His cutter averaged 98.8 mph, and the pitch induced three whiffs on five swings, which is an encouraging sign.
“It looked like Emmanuel Clase to me, didn’t it?” catcher Austin Hedges said.
It was Clase’s first hold since July 22, 2021, when he and James Karinchak were jockeying for the closer role. This was still a high-leverage situation, but a bit less intense than, say, a ninth-inning assignment against Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers.
Smith finished off the Red Sox in the ninth for his third save of the week. Vogt said he didn’t tell Smith he would pitch the ninth. (He didn’t tell him earlier in the week, either.) The manager explained that, while Smith’s recent experience closing games made him the favorite to do so again Saturday, certain scenarios could have led to them tasking Hunter Gaddis or Tim Herrin with the ninth.
In other words, when Clase isn’t closing, there isn’t an official No. 2 on the depth chart. To further the point, Vogt said between games Saturday that Clase “will be right back in the closer role.”
The question now, one that can only be answered by how Clase fares on the mound moving forward, is how much of his uncharacteristically mortal performance this season can be explained by his shoulder soreness.
As Clase revealed Saturday afternoon, it’s an issue that has popped up on occasion since spring training. It flared up during the team’s trip to San Diego at the start of April, “but it was something I was able to pitch through,” he said. He felt compelled to say something, though, after the nightmarish outing in Pittsburgh last Sunday. Clase said he felt he was back to 100 percent Friday, and that “the inflammation is gone.”
If so, and since Vogt contends he’ll return to his ninth-inning duties, perhaps this strange week will be long forgotten should Clase recapture the form that powered him to one of the top seasons by a reliever in league history in 2024.
By Zack Meisel
10
April 27, 2025
CLEVELAND — Emmanuel Clase is the Guardians’ closer. He just doesn’t handle the ninth inning — for now. Maybe.
Confused? Let’s try to grasp a situation that has unfolded in puzzling fashion over the past week, one that culminated in Clase revealing he’s dealt with occasional shoulder soreness since spring training. More on that in a moment.
First, the well-documented struggles. They aren’t difficult to spot.
Clase in 2024: 74 1/3 innings, 39 hits, five earned runs
Clase in 2025: 11 1/3 innings, 20 hits, nine earned runs
His funk has not cost the Guardians any games. He has blown two save chances, but his team rallied to win both games.
His velocity hasn’t been a problem.
Clase’s cutter velocity, April 2025: 98.9 mph
Clase’s cutter velocity, April 2024: 98.5 mph
Clase’s cutter velocity, April 2023: 97.8 mph
Clase’s cutter velocity, April 2022: 99.4 mph
Manager Stephen Vogt and pitching coach Carl Willis have suggested Clase needs to mix in more sliders and be a bit more unpredictable with his usage and location. They’ve stressed the issue is command more than anything, as he has left too many cutters over the plate. The data supports that notion, as hitters are producing a higher exit velocity and hard-hit rate against Clase than they ever have.
All along, Clase’s coaches have supported him. Vogt has downplayed the struggles and offered votes of confidence when asked if he had considered stripping him of the closer role.
Still, the way in which this last week played out for Clase was … odd.
Clase worked in all three games in Pittsburgh last weekend. He needed nine pitches to secure the final out Friday. He shut down the Pirates on six pitches Saturday.
On Sunday, he squandered a three-run lead and exited after 30 pitches. An inept Pittsburgh lineup tagged him for four hits and a walk. After the outing, he mentioned to the team that his shoulder didn’t feel right, though that wouldn’t be made public for three days.
Clase was granted a day off Monday. There was no chance he would pitch for a fourth consecutive day, whether squaring off against a group of Capri Sun-guzzling T-ballers or against the mighty New York Yankees, who roughed him up during the ALCS in October.
Cade Smith sealed Cleveland’s win Monday with a strikeout of Aaron Judge. On Tuesday, Smith again handled the ninth inning of a close game, his fourth outing in five days.
After the game, Vogt said Clase had been given a second day of rest because of his weekend workload.
“We wanted to give him two days,” Vogt said. “The boys stepped up. That’s what good bullpens do. They pick each other up. This bullpen has been taxed early this year.”
Vogt was asked to clarify if Clase was healthy.
“Yeah,” Vogt said. “We wanted to give him two days after he went three in a row.”
Vogt was then asked: “So we shouldn’t read anything into this?”
“No,” he replied. “Not at all.”
Fair enough. Let’s move to Wednesday morning, ahead of the series finale against the Yankees. Vogt was asked for an update on Clase. After all, Smith was unavailable, given his recent use. Who would cover the ninth inning if the Guardians were in position for a sweep?
That’s when Vogt revealed that Clase was dealing with “shoulder discomfort,” stemming from the final game in Pittsburgh. Clase played catch Wednesday. He threw a bullpen session Thursday, the team’s off day. He played catch again Friday afternoon before the Guardians’ series opener against the Boston Red Sox was postponed because of rain.
On Saturday morning, Clase played catch in left field, with trainers monitoring his every move. Vogt said “concern” was too strong of a word to use when assessing Clase’s situation, and he doubled down on his role before the team’s doubleheader Saturday.
“We need to be thoughtful (since he hasn’t) pitched for a week,” Vogt said. “So, how we use him, we’re not sure yet. He is the closer, though.”
As Vogt described the coaches’ message to Clase, the plan was hatched “just to get you back on your feet” after five days of recovery. Clase later clarified he was informed he would pitch in either the seventh or eighth inning, and he said he welcomed the idea.
“I think it was a good way to get back to competition,” he said, via interpreter Agustín Rivero, “and not just get into the high-leverage situations just to get the sensation going.”
Clase retired Boston’s 6-7-8 hitters in order — with two strikeouts — to preserve Cleveland’s one-run lead in the eighth inning. His cutter averaged 98.8 mph, and the pitch induced three whiffs on five swings, which is an encouraging sign.
“It looked like Emmanuel Clase to me, didn’t it?” catcher Austin Hedges said.
It was Clase’s first hold since July 22, 2021, when he and James Karinchak were jockeying for the closer role. This was still a high-leverage situation, but a bit less intense than, say, a ninth-inning assignment against Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers.
Smith finished off the Red Sox in the ninth for his third save of the week. Vogt said he didn’t tell Smith he would pitch the ninth. (He didn’t tell him earlier in the week, either.) The manager explained that, while Smith’s recent experience closing games made him the favorite to do so again Saturday, certain scenarios could have led to them tasking Hunter Gaddis or Tim Herrin with the ninth.
In other words, when Clase isn’t closing, there isn’t an official No. 2 on the depth chart. To further the point, Vogt said between games Saturday that Clase “will be right back in the closer role.”
The question now, one that can only be answered by how Clase fares on the mound moving forward, is how much of his uncharacteristically mortal performance this season can be explained by his shoulder soreness.
As Clase revealed Saturday afternoon, it’s an issue that has popped up on occasion since spring training. It flared up during the team’s trip to San Diego at the start of April, “but it was something I was able to pitch through,” he said. He felt compelled to say something, though, after the nightmarish outing in Pittsburgh last Sunday. Clase said he felt he was back to 100 percent Friday, and that “the inflammation is gone.”
If so, and since Vogt contends he’ll return to his ninth-inning duties, perhaps this strange week will be long forgotten should Clase recapture the form that powered him to one of the top seasons by a reliever in league history in 2024.
"I've suffered a great many tragedies in my life....most of them never happened". Mark Twain
Re: Articles
11073Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro
·
2h
Cleveland #Guardians transactions:
RHP Cody Bolton promoted from Columbus
LHP Joey Cantillo optioned to Columbus
@CleGuardPro
·
2h
Cleveland #Guardians transactions:
RHP Cody Bolton promoted from Columbus
LHP Joey Cantillo optioned to Columbus