Back when Jose Trevino caught for the Rangers, Emmanuel Clase made a strong first impression.
“He was throwing 103 with a lot of cut,” Trevino, now a Yankee, said of his 2019 teammate before the Bombers played the Guardians in Game 1 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium on Monday. “I remember catching him. It was electric.”
At the time, Clase was still finding his way as a reliever after starting throughout his minor league career. Now, however, he is Cleveland’s closer.
Few in the game are better at the job.
Clase is coming off a regular season that will surely earn him Cy Young votes, as the righty recorded a 0.61 ERA and an American League-leading 47 saves this season. He allowed just five runs all year while throwing 74.1 innings.
“He’s one of the best in the business right now,” Juan Soto said. “He’s probably reliever of the year.”
At the very least, Clase was the best reliever in baseball’s best bullpen, and his cutter was a huge reason why. He threw the pitch 77.8% of the time during the regular season, and it averaged 99.5 mph.
“When you’re throwing 100-mile-an-hour cutters up there and you also have command to go with it, that’s going to be a challenge,” Aaron Boone acknowledged before the ALCS began.
Historically speaking, the Yankees have been the ones to benefit from celebrated cutters, especially this time of year.
As great as Clase’s regular season was, Mariano Rivera had a 0.70 ERA over 96 playoff games while leaning on the bat-breaking pitch. He surrendered just 11 runs over 141 postseason innings while winning five World Series championships.
Clase doesn’t have that track record in October — he entered the ALCS with a 3.09 ERA over eight postseason games after allowing four earned runs in the ALDS — but he studied Rivera after transitioning to the bullpen years ago.
“It’s not like I admired him when I was a starter. Once I became a reliever, I started to look more into what he does and how he handles things,” Clase said. “I think that’s what I learned from him, his composure and how he handles all the pressure and how he handles his emotions, especially in a situation where he comes up to pitch.”
Comparing pitchers to Rivera — the all-time saves leader — has long been considered sacrilegious. But Boone, a former teammate of Rivera’s, said he saw “some similarities” in Clase because of the reliever’s cutter.
The Yankees must now face that difficult pitch on their path to the World Series. Clase, meanwhile, will get a chance to throw on the same mound Rivera used to own.
“I’m very happy to be here,” Clase said. “I’m really proud to be able to be in the same place that he was, and the focus is to keep securing the pitches the way I have been doing it.”
