Emmanuel Clase (; born March 18, 1998) is a Dominican

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He signed with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

as an international

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2015. He made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Texas Rangers.

Career

Clase signed with the

as an international

on February 11, 2015 for a $125,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He played for the DSL Padres in 2015, going 2–1 with a 1.99 ERA in 54 innings. In 2016 he played for the

AZL Padres The Arizona Complex League Padres are a Rookie-level affiliate of the San Diego Padres, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona, which is also the ...

, going 2–0 with a 4.01 ERA in innings. In 2017 he played for the

(2), going 2–4 with a 5.30 ERA in innings, and in one game with the

Tri-City Dust Devils The Tri-City Dust Devils are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Pasco, Washington. The Dust Devils are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels. Tri-City plays their home gam ...

of the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

, allowing 5 runs in innings.

Texas Rangers

On May 7, 2018, the Padres traded Clase to the Texas Rangers as the

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

in an earlier trade for Brett Nicholas. Clase was assigned to the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

of the

, and finished the 2018 season after going 1–1 with a 0.64 ERA, 27 strikeouts, and 12 saves in innings. Clase was assigned to the

Down East Wood Ducks The Down East Wood Ducks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the owned-and-operated Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Kinston, North Carolina, and are named for the wood duck, a local colorful wa ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

to open the 2019 season. He appeared in 6 games for them, going 2–0 with a 0.00 ERA, 1 save, and 11 strikeouts in 7 innings. On April 23, he was promoted to the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

of the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

, and went 1–2 with a 3.35 ERA and 39 strikeouts over innings. On August 2, 2019, the Rangers selected Clase's contract and promoted him to the MLB. He made his MLB debut on August 4, pitching scoreless innings. Clase produced a 2–3 record with a 2.31 ERA and 21 strikeouts over innings in 2019. His cutter was on average the fastest in MLB, at .

Cleveland Indians / Guardians

On December 15, 2019, the Rangers traded Clase and

Delino DeShields Jr. Delino Diaab DeShields (born August 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball center fielder who is a free agent. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers from 2015 through 2019, the Cleveland Indians in 2020, and t ...

to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in exchange for

Corey Kluber Corey Scott Kluber (born April 10, 1986) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. He made his M ...

and cash considerations. Clase was suspended for 80 games on May 1, 2020, after testing positive for

Boldenone Boldenone (developmental code name RU-18761), is a naturally occurring anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) and the 1(2)- dehydrogenated analogue of testosterone. Boldenone itself has never been marketed; as a pharmaceutical drug, it is used as ...

, a banned

PED Peds are aggregates of soil particles formed as a result of pedogenic processes; this natural organization of particles forms discrete units separated by pores or voids. The term is generally used for macroscopic (visible; i.e. greater than 1 mm i ...

. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and the shortening of the

2020 Major League Baseball season The 2020 Major League Baseball season began on July 23 and ended on September 27 with only 60 games amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The full 162-game regular season was planned to begin on March 26, but the pandemic caused Major League Baseball (ML ...

to 60 games, Clase's suspension was lifted at the conclusion of the shortened 2020 season. Clase returned to the Indians' bullpen for the 2021 season. After converting all six save opportunities in August and holding opposing batters to an .095 average, he was named AL Reliever of the Month. On April 2, 2022, Clase agreed to a five-year $20 million extension with the

. In July 2022, Clase was named to his first All-Star team. He pitched the ninth inning for the American League at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...

and struck out the side to get the save and secure a 3-2 victory. In 2022 he was 3-4 with a 1.36 ERA in 72.2 innings, and lead the MLB in saves. He compiled 42 in 46 opportunities.

Pitching style

Clase features an upper 90s/low 100s mph

cut fastball In baseball, a cut fastball or cutter is a type of fastball that breaks toward the pitcher's glove-hand side, as it reaches home plate. This pitch is somewhere between a slider and a four-seam fastball, as it is usually thrown faster than a slider ...

and a low 90s

slider Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clase, Emmanuel 1998 births Living people American League All-Stars Arizona League Padres players Cleveland Guardians players Cleveland Indians players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Republic sportspeople in doping cases Dominican Summer League Padres players Down East Wood Ducks players category:Estrellas Orientales players Frisco RoughRiders players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball players suspended for drug offenses People from María Trinidad Sánchez Province Spokane Indians players Texas Rangers players Tri-City Dust Devils players