Emmanuel Clase

Emmanuel Clase ( ; 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.

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.

Since July 2025, Clase has been on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of a league investigation into sports betting. In November 2025, he was federally indicted and arrested in relation to the investigation.

Career 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. 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 innings. In 2017, he played for the AZL Padres (2), going 2–4 with a 5.30 ERA in innings, and in one game with the Tri-City Dust Devils of the Low-A Northwest League, allowing 5 runs in innings. 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 innings. He appeared in 6 games for them, going 2–0 with a 0.00 ERA, 1 save, and 11 strikeouts in 7 innings. He made his MLB debut on August 4, pitching scoreless innings. Clase had a 2–3 record, 2.31 ERA, and 21 strikeouts over innings.

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. Clase was suspended for 80 games on May 1, 2020, after testing positive for Boldenone, a banned performance-enhancing substance. 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 2020 season. In 2021, he was 4–5 with a 1.29 ERA in innings. He earned 24 saves in 29 opportunities, a franchise rookie record. He finished fifth in AL Rookie of the Year voting. In July, Clase was named to his first career All-Star team. He pitched the ninth inning for the AL at Dodger Stadium 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 innings and led MLB in saves. He compiled 42 saves in 46 opportunities.

In 2023, Clase was named to his second consecutive All-Star team. He was 3–9 with a 3.22 ERA in innings and led MLB in saves for the second year in a row. He compiled 44 saves in 56 opportunities.

In July 2024, Clase was named to his third career All-Star team. He threw a scoreless ninth inning for the AL to get the save and secure a 5–3 victory. On August 30, Clase recorded his 150th save for Cleveland, passing Cody Allen to become the franchise's all-time save leader.

Clase allowed more earned runs in the 2024 postseason than he did in the regular season. 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. In Game 3 of the AL Championship Series, Clase gave up back-to-back home runs in the top of the 8th inning to New York Yankees sluggers Aaron Judge and 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.

In 2025, he was 5–3 with a 3.23 ERA in innings. He also compiled 24 saves in 29 opportunities before he was placed on paid leave in July. 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.

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.

On November 13, 2025, Clase was arrested at JFK Airport in New York City by FBI agents. Hours later, he was arraigned in a Brooklyn federal court, entering a plea of not guilty.

Pitching style Clase throws an upper 90s/low 100s mph cut fastball and a low 90s slider. He has demonstrated an exceptional ability to control his pitches despite throwing at such a high velocity, averaging just 1.8 walks per 9 innings as of .