Relievers — Mainly Clase — Merit Recognition In 2024 Cy Young Voting

By Dan Schlossberg

In a year when most starting pitchers are struggling, maybe it’s time closers got more consideration in voting for the Cy Young Award.

When this week began, the top-rated closer in the majors was Ryan Helsley of the St. Louis Cardinals. He converted 38 of 41 save chances, fanned 58 in 51 2/3 innings, and crafted a 2.61 earned run average out of a busy Cardinal pen.

But he probably wasn’t as sharp as Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase, who had saved 37 of 40 opportunities in 58 appearances while posting a 0.66 WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) and holding hitters to a .159 batting average. His earned run average was a microscopic 0.63.

Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase has become a formidable candidate for the American League’s Cy Young Award.Photo byErik Drost, Wikimedia

Atlanta’s fast-working Raisel Iglesias has been even stingier with rival hitters, holding them to a .142 mark. Saving 26 of 28 chances, he had a 1.51 ERA and 0.65 WHIP. Not too shabby, especially in an age when managers don’t like to overwork their closers.

By comparison, Mets closer Edwin Diaz — who should have won the Cy Young two years ago — was merely ordinary. Thanks to early-season stumbles due to rust from missing all of last year with a knee injury, he had only 14 saves in 19 chances and a 1.09 WHIP and .200 opponents’ average. But his fastball was still there, with 50 strikeouts in 35 innings serving as an accurate barometer.

No reliever has won a Cy Young since Eric Gagne of the 2003 Los Angeles Dodgers and no American League closer has won since Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley took both the pitching trophy and MVP award in 1992.

Although the Cy Young Award was created in 1956 and split between the two leagues in 1967, the first reliever to win it was Mike Marshall of the Dodgers in 1974. That was the year the kinesiology professor worked 208 innings in 106 games — both relief pitching records not likely to be duplicated.

Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman got the most first-place votes in 1998 but finished second to Atlanta southpaw starter Tom Glavine in overall points, 99-88.

Other closers who have won a Cy Young were Bruce Sutter (1979 Cubs), Willie Hernandez (1984 Tigers), Steve Bedrosian (1987 Phillies), and Mark Davis (1989 Padres).

No reliever has ever won it twice, though Hernandez, like Eckersley, also took home an MVP trophy the same year he won his Young.

It’s been 21 years since a reliever won the Cy Young, so it’s about time. In fact, ESPN’s Cy Young Predictor puts Clase light-years ahead of stalwart starters Tarik Skubal, Corbin Burnes, and Framber Valdez in the American League this season.

The predictor gives pitchers points based on performance with bonuses added if a candidate’s team also wins a divisional title — as Clase’s Cleveland club could do in the tightly-contested American League Central.

The right-hander worked 58 times (57 1/3 innings) in Cleveland’s first 124 games, allowing four earned runs all season, holding hitters to an .083 batting average with men in scoring position and lefties to a .107 mark. The Guardians went 52-6 in his games.

And wait, there’s more: Clase walked just seven of the 209 batters he faced and posted an 0.66 WHIP, trailing only Baltimore’s Danny Coulombe (0.62) and Atlanta’s Iglesias (0.65).

Earlier this season, the three-time All-Star notched saves in four consecutive games.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Clase’s performance compares favorably with thoseof Gagne and Eckersley during their Cy Young Award campaigns. That’s not too shabby, considering the Dodger closer converted a record 55 consecutive saves and crafted a 1.20 ERA when he won the NL honor.

Eckersley led the league with 51 saves in 1992, figured in 58 of Oakland’s 96 victories, and got 15 first-place votes in the MVP voting to take the prize with 306 points.

Can Clase make the case with Cy Young voters? Or will he become the 10th closer to finish second in the voting since the writers started handing out two awards in 1967?

We’ll know when 2024 honors are handed out a few days after the World Series ends.

Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ covers baseball for forbes.com, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, and Sports Collectors Digest, among others. He’s also the author of 40 books, including Home Run King: the Remarkable Record of Hank Aaron. Dan’s email is ballauthor@gmail.com.