This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

This will be a daunting task.

A reliever hasn’t won the Cy Young Award since 2003 when Eric Gagne took home the hardware. A reliever hasn’t even been a finalist for the award (meaning finishing in the top three) since Francisco Rodríguez in 2008. And to do it this year, against a starter like Detroit's Tarik Skubal, who won the AL pitching Triple Crown with the most wins, strikeouts and the best ERA, may be even harder.

It’s an uphill battle, but if there’s anything that Emmanuel Clase has made clear as he’s grown into this closer role, it's that he loves a challenge. And his 2024 regular-season résumé might be enough to accomplish it. (Remember, these votes are cast before the postseason.)

His teammates joked all season long that they could stop watching the game in the ninth inning. They’d hear the drumroll play over the public address system as all the screens in the ballpark turned to animated flames and they knew they could sit back, wait five minutes and add another win to their record.

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.

“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.”

If you take a second to pull up his profile on Baseball Savant, you’ll have to shield your eyes from the bright red that covers the page. To explain each player’s profiles in simple terms: Red is good, blue is bad. So, yes, Clase was very, very good. He finished in at least the 97th percentile in seven categories:

• Pitching run value (98th)
• Fastball run value (99th)
• Expected ERA (99th)
• Chase percentage (98th)
• Walk percentage (98th)
• Barrel percentage (97th)
• Hard-hit percentage (98th)

All of this is just added to the fact that Clase set the Guardians’ all-time saves record this year in just 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 saves 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 through ‘14.

Clase claimed the Mariano Rivera AL Reliever of the Year Award last week. Now, he has to wait until tonight at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network to see if he will also add a Cy Young Award. If he can pull it off, he will become the sixth Clevelander to win the award, joining Shane Bieber (2020), Corey Kluber (2014, ’17), Cliff Lee (2008), CC Sabathia (2007) and Gaylord Perry (1972).