Clase comes up 3rd in AL Cy Young Award voting
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CLEVELAND -- Being a finalist doesn’t have to have a negative connotation.
The fact that Emmanuel Clase even made it to the final three of the BBWAA’s AL Cy Young Award vote is an accomplishment in itself. So, when he was announced as the third-place finisher on MLB Network on Wednesday evening, there shouldn’t have been too much disappointment.
Clase finished behind unanimous winner Tarik Skubal, who earned the AL pitching Triple Crown this year and helped carry the Tigers to the postseason, and runner-up Seth Lugo, who owned a 3.00 ERA while eclipsing the 200-inning mark for the Royals. Clase received nine second-place votes, seven third-place votes, two fourth-place votes and five fifth-place votes.
• Here are the Cy Young Award vote totals
Obviously, Clase would’ve loved to win. But let’s look at the history of relievers in the Cy Young voting. Remember Zack Britton’s ridiculous 0.54 ERA season in 69 appearances with 47 saves for the Orioles in 2016? He finished fourth in the Cy Young vote. Before this year, there hadn’t been a reliever to crack the top three since the Angels' Francisco Rodríguez in 2008. A reliever hasn’t won the award since the Dodgers' Eric Gagne in 2003.
So, to force your way into the top three of a starter-dominated category is a win. Clase's résumé this season certainly backed it up.
Clase owned a 0.61 ERA in 74 regular-season appearances. That equates to just five earned runs in 74 1/3 innings. He led the American League with 47 saves (his career best) and walked just 10 batters. When the Guardians had a lead entering the ninth inning during the regular season, they went 82-0. Sure, not all of those were closed out by Clase, but a lot of them were.
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All of this is just added to the fact that Clase set the Guardians’ all-time saves record this year in his fourth season with the club. He also nailed down a save in the All-Star Game, making him the fourth pitcher in MLB history to record a save in multiple All-Star Games, joining Mariano Rivera (four), Dennis Eckersley (three) and Bruce Sutter (two). Plus, he is the first reliever in baseball to earn three straight 40-save seasons since Craig Kimbrel did so in four straight seasons with the Braves from 2011-14.
“We were fortunate to watch it every night,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “What Emmanuel did this entire season was just incredible. So for him to be recognized as one of the top three pitchers in the American League, he should have been.”