'Everyone needs to take notice': Emmanuel Clase taking over title of best reliever in MLB

CLEVELAND — Based loaded? Nobody out? Bottom of the ninth inning? Game on the line against a divisional rival? Didn't matter. Emmanuel Clase 's heart rate might not have even increased by a single beat.

The closer's composure was even enough to help the manager remain a bit calmer in a stressful situation.

Facing the second-place Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon, Clase worked into a bases-loaded situation with nobody out and the Guardians holding a 5-3 lead. For a reliever, it's the stuff of nightmares. Except, Clase never displayed any signs of distress, nor were there any mayday calls sent.

Clase went on to strike out Willi Castro before inducing a game-ending double play. In a few pitches, the Guardians went from being in serious trouble to walking through the handshake line that accompanies a win.

"Oh, he helped me out big time," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "I just looked at him the whole time and that dude didn't take a deep breath, he didn't gather himself, he didn't flinch, and he just reared back and hit 102."

There likely isn't a pitcher in baseball any manager would want on the mound for his team right now than Clase, who is building a potential Cy Young case (though as a reliever, that's a difficult award to win).

Clase has a borderline ridiculous 0.64 ERA and 37 saves in 56⅓ innings this season. He leads the league in, well, just about every important category for a relief pitcher.

But he recently might have pulled off his best feat of the season, and it wasn't just the Houdini act he pulled in Minnesota.

Emmanuel Clase becomes first Cleveland pitcher since 1995 to pitch in four consecutive games

Between Saturday and Tuesday's games, while the Guardians were winning all four games (two against the Twins, two against the Chicago Cubs at home), Clase pitched in all four.

That's four consecutive days opposing hitters watched Clase run out for the ninth inning, and four consecutive days in which he earned a save. No pitcher in baseball had accomplished that feat since Edwin Diaz six years ago, and no Cleveland pitcher had taken the mound for four consecutive games since Jose Mesa in 1995.

In those four innings, on four consecutive days, Clase allowed four total baserunners , he struck out four, and he threw 53 pitches.

A reliever pitching four consecutive games without an off day is extremely rare. It's something with which the Guardians will be careful. But Clase wants the ball every day a game is on the schedule, and they trust the communication lines enough that if he says he's OK, then he's OK — to a point, at least. They weren't going to let him pitch a fifth game in a row, and Vogt wouldn't even allow Clase to go down to the bullpen during Wednesday's game, instead keeping him safely in the dugout.

"I mean, I think it goes down to the confidence that we have that they know when I tell 'em I'm ready to pitch, they know I'm going to be ready to do my best, and vice versa," Clase said through a team translator. "They asked me today and I feel really good that they asked me to know how I'm feeling, but I told 'em I was ready, and I'm the type of pitcher, the more I pitch, the more comfortable I feel."

Emmanuel Clase stats vs. Mariano Rivera

Statistically , Clase has been baseball's best closer since the beginning of the 2021 season, and the argument isn't particularly close.

He leads all relievers with 8.1 fWAR — no one else is even above 6.0. Several closers are bunched together around 5.9 (Josh Hader) or 5.7 (Raisel Iglesias) or a bit lower, but Clase is alone at the top.

No reliever has appeared in more games over that time than Clase (280). And nobody has more saves (147). No qualified reliever has a better ERA (1.69) .

In other words, at least by the numbers, no pitcher has been called from the bullpen more than Clase, and no pitcher has been better than him, either.

The numbers comparing first-ballot Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera 's first four full seasons against Clase's first four full seasons (technically a stretch still going on, if the shortened 2020 season isn't included) are a bit eye-popping.

In his first four seasons, Rivera (1997-2000) had a 2.14 ERA, 160 saves and a 6.9 K/9 rate in 277⅔ innings. Clase (2021-24), with six weeks still left in this regular season, would be at a 1.69 ERA, 147 saves and an 8.8 K/9 rate in 271⅓ innings.

There's a reason Isiah Kiner-Falefa, earlier this season, referred to Clase's cutter as "Mariano-like."

Matthew Boyd hasn't been with the Guardians for long. But it didn't take much time for him to see Clase is in rarefied air.

"I mean, to go four in a row, [Clase] is one of a kind. It's special," Boyd said. "What people are witnessing with him is really, really special. And I know Cleveland's accustomed to some amazing bullpens over the years, and unfortunately I got to watch it from the wrong side first-hand, when that ball was flipped in the sixth or seventh, it was like, 'Oh, man.'

"But what Clase is doing is really special, and everyone needs to take notice. It's amazing."

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis .

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 'Everyone needs to take notice': Emmanuel Clase taking over title of best reliever in MLB