Over the past four years, there has been no better closer than Emmanuel Clase of the Cleveland Guardians. He finished the 2024 season with 47 saves and an ERA of 0.61, putting him right in the thick of the Cy Young race.
However, things haven’t gone quite as well for Clase in the playoffs.
After struggling against the Detroit Tigers in the divisional series, Clase has completely fallen apart against the New York Yankees in the ALCS. On Thursday night in Game 3, he was credited with a blown save after allowing back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning.
Although the Guardians came back to win the game in thrilling fashion, Clase was heavily criticized for his performance. Taking exception to that, he went to arguably extreme lengths to remind everyone just how dominant he has been, breaking out every piece of hardware he owns to display on social media.
Emmanuel Clase is flexing all his accomplishments on Instagram after his tough outing tonight pic.twitter.com/fiHOT6tZDF
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 18, 2024
“We’ll talk tomorrow,” Clase wrote in Spanish.
That would have been a strong flex had Clase been able turn his playoff futility around but that’s not what happened.
On Friday night in Game 4 of the ALCS, Clase took the mound in the ninth inning with the game tied at 6. All the Guardians needed from him was one clean inning to give their offense a chance to walk if off for the second consecutive night. Instead, the three-time All-Star walked one, allowed three hits and surrendered two earned runs that proved to be the difference in the game.
With the win, the Yankees went up 3-1 in the series and put the Guardians, Clase and all of his hardware on the brink of elimination.
