Introduction
Emmanuel Clase (born March 18, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Texas Rangers.
Career
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 24 ⁄3 innings. In 2017 he played for the AZL Padres (2), going 2–4 with a 5.30 ERA in 35 ⁄3 innings, and in one game with the Tri-City Dust Devils of the Class A Short Season Northwest League, allowing 5 runs in 3 ⁄3 innings.
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. Clase was assigned to the Spokane Indians of the Class A Short Season Northwest League, and finished the 2018 season after going 1–1 with a 0.64 ERA, 27 strikeouts, and 12 saves in 28 ⁄3 innings. Clase was assigned to the Down East Wood Ducks of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League 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 of the Double-A Texas League, and went 1–2 with a 3.35 ERA and 39 strikeouts over 37 ⁄3 innings.
On August 2, 2019, the Rangers selected Clase's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his major league debut on August 4, pitching 1 ⁄3 scoreless innings.Clase produced a 2–3 record with a 2.31 ERA and 21 strikeouts over 23 ⁄3 innings in 2019. His cutter was on average the fastest in major league baseball, at 99.2 miles per hour (159.6 km/h).
Cleveland Indians
On December 15, 2019, the Rangers traded Clase and Delino DeShields Jr. to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Corey Kluber and cash considerations.
Pitching style
Clase features an upper 90s/low 100s mph cut fastball and a low 90s slider.