Cleveland Guardians Skipper Makes Major Emmanuel Clase Announcement

Alarm bells sounded when the Cleveland Guardians turned to Cade Smith rather than Emmanuel Clase to close out Tuesday night's win over the New York Yankees.

Had Stephen Vogt lost faith in Clase? Had the embattled All-Star lost his job?

Apparently, it wasn't either of those things. While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Vogt revealed that Clase experienced some "shoulder discomfort" after blowing Sunday's save against the Pittsburgh Pirates, via Tom Withers of The Associated Press.

Vogt added that Clase is playing catch and that his availability for Wednesday evening has not yet been determined.

This is certainly a rather strange announcement from the Guardians skipper. You would have thought Vogt would have revealed this news following Clase's outing over the weekend and not several days later, but nevertheless, here we are.

Clase has been struggling mightily this season, owning a 7.84 ERA through 11 appearances. He has allowed 20 hits over 10.1 innings and has already surrendered nine earned runs. By contrast, the 27-year-old permitted only five earned runs in all of 2024.

The three-time All-Star pitched to the tune of a 0.61 ERA and a minuscule 0.659 WHIP last year, finishing third in AL Cy Young voting as a result. However, Clase has a rocky showing in the playoffs, and it seems to have carried over into the 2025 MLB campaign.

Perhaps a sore shoulder has been Clase's issue all along over the first several weeks of the season, but one thing is for sure: Cleveland needs Clase to get right if it wants to make another deep run.

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