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Emmanuel Clase
Dominican baseball player (born 1998) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Emmanuel Clase (Spanish pronunciation: [’klase];[1] born March 18, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, making his debut with the team in 2019.
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Clase was traded to Cleveland following the 2019 season and became their main closer in 2021. With Cleveland, Clase has been named an All-Star and led the American League in saves three times, was named AL Reliever of the Year in 2022 and 2024, and is the franchise's all-time save leader.[2]
Since July 2025, Clase has been on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of an investigation into sports betting by the league. In November, he was federally indicted and arrested in relation to the investigation.[3]
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Career
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San Diego Padres
Clase signed with the San Diego Padres as an international free agent on February 11, 2015, for a $125,000 signing bonus.[4] 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, going 2–0 with a 4.01 ERA in 24+2⁄3 innings. In 2017 he played for the AZL Padres (2), going 2–4 with a 5.30 ERA in 35+2⁄3 innings, and in one game with the Tri-City Dust Devils of the Low–A Northwest League, allowing 5 runs in 3+1⁄3 innings.[4]
Texas Rangers
On May 7, 2018, the Padres traded Clase to the Texas Rangers as the player to be named later in an earlier trade for Brett Nicholas.[5] Clase was assigned to the Spokane Indians of the Low–A Northwest League, and finished the 2018 season after going 1–1 with a 0.64 ERA, 27 strikeouts, and 12 saves in 28+1⁄3 innings.[4] Clase was assigned to the Down East Wood Ducks of the High–A Carolina League to open the 2019 season.[6] He appeared in 6 games for them, going 2–0 with a 0.00 ERA, 1 save, and 11 strikeouts in 7 innings.[4] On April 23, he was promoted to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League, and went 1–2 with a 3.35 ERA and 39 strikeouts over 37+2⁄3 innings.[7][4]
On August 2, 2019, the Rangers selected Clase's contract and promoted him to MLB.[8][9] He made his MLB debut on August 4, pitching 1+2⁄3 scoreless innings.[10] Clase produced a 2–3 record with a 2.31 ERA and 21 strikeouts over 23+1⁄3 innings in 2019.[11] His cutter was on average the fastest in MLB, at 99.2 miles per hour (159.6 km/h).[12]
Cleveland Indians / Guardians
On December 15, 2019, the Rangers traded Clase and Delino DeShields Jr. to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Corey Kluber and cash considerations.[13] Clase was suspended for 80 games on May 1, 2020, after testing positive for Boldenone, a banned PED.[14] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shortening of the 2020 Major League Baseball season to 60 games, Clase's suspension was lifted at the conclusion of the shortened 2020 season.[citation needed]
Clase returned to the Indians' bullpen for the 2021 season. After converting all six save opportunities in August and holding opposing batters to a .095 average, he was named AL Reliever of the Month.[15] In 2021, he was 4–5 with a 1.29 ERA in 69+2⁄3 innings. He also compiled 24 saves in 29 opportunities.[16]
On April 2, 2022, Clase agreed to a five-year $20 million extension with the Cleveland Guardians.[17] In July 2022, Clase was named to his first career All-Star team. He pitched the ninth inning for the American League at Dodger Stadium and struck out the side to get the save and secure a 3–2 victory.[18] In 2022, he was 3–4 with a 1.36 ERA in 72+2⁄3 innings and led MLB in saves. He compiled 42 saves in 46 opportunities.[19]
In 2023, Clase was 3–9 with a 3.22 ERA in 72+2⁄3 innings and led MLB in saves for the second year in a row. He compiled 44 saves in 56 opportunities.[20]
In July 2024, Clase was named to his third career All-Star team. He threw a scoreless ninth inning for the American League to get the save and secure a 5–3 victory.[21] On August 30, Clase recorded his 150th save for Cleveland, passing Cody Allen to become the franchise's all-time save leader.[2]
In Game 2 of the 2024 ALDS, Clase gave up a game-winning three-run home run in the ninth inning to Detroit Tigers slugger Kerry Carpenter. The home run marked the first time Clase had given up a run since August 30, and it was just the third home run he had allowed in the 2024 season.[22] Clase recorded saves in games 4 and 5 that won the series, with the latter being the first six-out save of his Major League career.[23] In Game 3 of the 2024 ALCS, Clase gave up back-to-back home runs in the top of the 8th inning to New York Yankees sluggers Aaron Judge followed by Giancarlo Stanton. In Game 4, with the game tied in the 9th inning, Clase gave up two more runs as his postseason ERA ballooned to 10.29, compared to his 0.61 ERA in 74 games during the regular season.[24] Following the conclusion of the season, Clase was named AL Reliever of the Year for the second time in his career.[25]
In 2025, he was 5–3 with a 3.23 ERA in 47+1⁄3 innings. He also compiled 24 saves in 29 opportunities.[26]
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Gambling allegations, indictment and arrest
On July 28, 2025, Clase was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of an investigation by the league into sports betting.[27] Clase did not pitch again that season. Following the end of the season, he attempted to join the Estrellas Orientales of the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM). However, because the gambling investigation was active, LIDOM did not allow him to play.[28]
On November 9, 2025, federal prosecutors from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York indicted Clase and teammate Luis Ortiz on charges including wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy. The indictment alleges that Clase and Ortiz "agreed in advance with their co-conspirators to throw specific types of pitches and speeds of pitches", and the co-conspirators then used the information to place bets.[29]
On November 13, 2025, Clase was arrested at JFK Airport in New York City by FBI agents.[30][3] Hours later, he was arraigned in a Brooklyn federal court, entering a plea of not guilty.[3][30]
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Pitching style
Clase features an upper 90s/low 100s mph cut fastball and a low 90s slider.[31][32] He has demonstrated an exceptional ability to control his pitches despite throwing at such a high velocity, averaging just 1.6 walks per 9 innings as of September 17, 2024.[4]
References
External links
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