I too was there !

One more sleep until the home opener: Guardians breakfast today

Published: Apr. 07, 2025, 9:06 a.m.

By Joe Noga, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Opening day is like a national holiday in Cleveland.

The air smells crisper. The sky seems a brighter shade of blue. There is an anticipation that hangs over the ballpark that simply does not repeat itself during any of the other 80 dates on the home schedule. It is special for multiple reasons.

And it is only one sleep away.

Tuesday’s home opener will be the 32nd in Progressive Field’s history, and will mark the debut of phase two of the ongoing ballpark improvement campaign that began in earnest immediately following the 2023 season.

New social spaces in left field will be available to all ticketholders, including the Terrace Hall that provides stunning views of the park.

The club’s team shop returns to its former location after spending last season operating out of a tent on the Gateway plaza.

New menu items in the park include the Guardian Burger in Collaboration with Gunselman’s Tavern and the “Big Mozz” mozzarella sandwich.

Ohio State linebacker Jack Sawyer will throw out the ceremonial first pitch, and the national anthem will be performed by the Cleveland Orchestra strings. Guardians employees and their families will stretch the giant American Flag across the outfield during the pregame lineup introductions.

The National Weather Service is calling for a high of 35 degrees at game time under partly cloudy skies. So, dress warmly and arrive early. There is a Cavaliers game that tips at 7 p.m. at Rocket Arena, which should complicate traffic and parking around the stadium.

Breakfast and trivia

The Guardians’ most frequent opponent in home openers is the White Sox. How many times has Cleveland opened its home schedule against Chicago? Answer below.

Next

Tuesday: Guardians home opener vs. White Sox 4:10 p.m. EDT. RHP Ben Lively (0-1, 6.75) vs. RHP Shane Smith (0-0, 3.18). CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM/1100 and WMMS will carry the game.

Wednesday: Guardians vs. White Sox 6:10 p.m. EDT. LHP Logan Allen (0-1, 6.75) vs. RHP Sean Burke (1-1, 5.23). CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM/1100 and WMMS will carry the game.

Thursday: Guardians vs. White Sox 1:10 p.m. EDT. RHP Gavin Williams (0-0, 4.50) vs. RHP Jonathan Cannon (0-1, 3.12). CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM/1100 and WMMS will carry the game.

Trivia answer

Tuesday will mark the 25th time Cleveland has faced the White Sox in its home opener.

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Bruce Drennan Addresses Rumor About Emmanuel Clase’s Struggles

April 7, 2025

By Ernesto Cova

Not so long ago, there was no doubt that the Cleveland Guardians had the best closer in all of baseball.

That’s why it’s way too early to be worried about Emmanuel Clase.

Granted, it hasn’t been a good start to the season for the Dominican hurler, but we shouldn’t sound the alarms just yet.

At least, that’s how Bruce Drennan feels.

In the latest edition of his show, he claimed that even though some think Clase might be burnt out from last season, it’s too early to draw that conclusion.

Clase has made four appearances so far this season.

He has yet to record a save, and he has a 6.75 ERA and 1.75 WHIP with just two strikeouts.

He’s allowed three earned runs in four innings played.

There were some major concerns about the huge workload he’s had to endure over the past couple of years.

That much action can be taxing to any closer, so perhaps he just needs some more time to get back to full strength.

The Guardians signed Paul Sewald in the offseason, and while he’s been used mostly as a set-up man, he does have some experience as a closer.

Of course, it’s not like he’s going to take Clase’s spot altogether, but perhaps Stephen Vogt will want to give him a chance to handle those duties until Clase figures things out and gets his legs back under him.

This isn’t an ideal start to the season, but he’s certainly earned his stripes and the benefit of the doubt.

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Guardians Players Looking Forward To Returning Home After Rough Road Trip

April 7, 2025

By Andres Chavez

The Cleveland Guardians have to be among the most disappointing teams in baseball at the moment.

They haven’t looked like the dynamic, energetic team that made it all the way to the American League Championship Series last season.

After taking two out of three games on the road against the Kansas City Royals, Cleveland lost five of six to the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Angels.

With that nightmarish trip now over, it’s time for the Guardians to return home, recapture their essence and reconnect with fans.

The players, for their part, are eager to play at Progressive Field.

Cleveland will face the Chicago White Sox in a game that is shaping up to be among the coldest home openers in recent Guardians history.

“Absolutely, I’m looking forward to getting home,” Austin Hedges said. “This has been a long road trip. It’s not easy to start on the road. It’s not easy to play on the road. It will be great to get back to Cleveland in front of our amazing fans and start playing some good ball.”

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt also is glad to return home.

“It seems like we haven’t been home for a long time,” he said. “It will be nice to get in front of our fans again.”

It could be the ideal opportunity for the team to finally get going.

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Hoynes or maybe it was Noga wrote that they want Clase to mix in de-emphasize his fastball a bit; 99 mph but too predictable.

Another Cleveland home opener, another reason to honor die-hard fans who aren’t here CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 07: A general view of the field during the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Friday, April 7, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Lauren Bacho/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
By Zack Meisel

April 8, 2025 2:00 am MST

CLEVELAND — On April 8, 2024, before a spellbinding total solar eclipse eerily darkened the afternoon sky and before the Guardians blanked the White Sox in the home opener, Megan Dewey lost her grandmother Laverne.

At Laverne’s wake, a gathering of people in Cleveland gear, her seven grandchildren stepped outside, tuned a car radio to the Guardians game, toasted to her memory with some drinks and listened to Tom Hamilton narrate an 8-7 win over the Yankees.

After Laverne lost her husband to leukemia in 1986, the baseball team became her love. She would watch every game and then watch the replay the next morning, captivated by every pitch, despite knowing the outcome. Megan can still hear the sigh her grandmother would release whenever they relinquished a late lead. While sorting through Laverne’s belongings, her five children discovered a notebook from the 2023 season, with scores and notes for every game. She had started one for the 2024 season, too.

Last weekend, Megan and four cousins got tattoos to honor Laverne. Megan’s ink is on her shoulder, a nod to Laverne always looking out for her. After work on Tuesday, Megan plans to visit her gravesite, where she’ll listen to Hamilton’s call of another home opener, for as long as she can tolerate the bone-chilling temperatures.

Another home opener is here, and for many, it’s a day to celebrate a new season and a day to remember those who are no longer able to join them for the journey ahead.

Whenever Rachel Buck wanted to catch a game at Progressive Field, she turned to her grandmother Janet, who had season tickets in right field for a decade. Rachel attended her first game with her sister and grandparents on a chilly afternoon, and Janet covered them in an Indians blanket.

“I learned that day what it meant to be a true fan,” Rachel says.

Janet witnessed Cleveland win the World Series in 1948, when she was 12. She grew up on the same street as a Cleveland player — her family can’t recall the player’s name — and before he hopped on the streetcar in Lakewood to head downtown to Municipal Stadium every afternoon, she would yell to him, “Have a good game!” She and her husband, Henry, attended a team cruise in the 1990s, and took a picture with Omar Vizquel, Brian Giles, Steve Karsay, Jeff Branson and Davey Nelson. Rachel retains fond memories of lounging at her aunt’s pool with her grandmother as Hamilton’s voice comforted them from a nearby radio.

Janet passed away in May 2016, so she missed the club’s run that October, as well as memorable stretches in 2017, ’22 and ’24. During Game 5 of the 2016 ALCS, Rachel was working as a dishwasher at Gene’s Place To Dine at Kamm’s Corner, with her phone connected to the speaker so she could follow Cleveland’s bid to reach the World Series. When Carlos Santana hauled in the final out and dropped to his knees in foul territory, she shed a few tears.

“I wished I could celebrate that with my grandma,” she says. “It was honestly bittersweet at the time.”

Years ago, Rachel vowed to attend the home opener each year with a different guest. On Tuesday, it’s her friend David’s turn. They’ll sit in the top row at Progressive Field, where a wind gust or a gaze out at the city limits can make anyone acrophobic. She wouldn’t have it any other way, blanket and all, just like her first game with her grandmother.

“I miss her so much,” Rachel says, “but I feel more connected with her through the Guardians.”
Brett Gates (left) and his father, Daryl, at the 2016 World Series. (Courtesy of Brett Gates)

A two-hour commute to the ballpark occasionally caused Daryl Gates some headaches, and not just because he drove a massive family truckster conversion van through the narrow, busy streets of downtown Cleveland.

“He may or may not have backed into cars on back-to-back nights during the ’98 ALCS,” says his son, Brett.

To beat the traffic and start that journey home to Marion, Ohio, Daryl took pride in nailing the perfect time to hustle back to the parking lot. His record wasn’t flawless, however. They bailed on the final innings on a sweltering Sunday afternoon game in July 2002, just before an unheralded utility player named Bill Selby smacked a walk-off grand slam against future unanimous Hall of Fame selection Mariano Rivera, which landed Joel Skinner his second victory as interim manager.

Daryl was born in 1952, four years after the club’s last championship and just in time for four decades of miserable baseball on the lakeshore. But they were his team, so even though the family lived two hours south, once Jacobs Field opened in 1994, they had season tickets in right field.

When the 1995 Indians clinched the franchise’s first playoff berth in 41 years, Daryl had tears in his eyes as they raised a banner in the outfield. He marveled at the accomplishment of a star-studded, city-galvanizing roster, but he also knew they were playing Garth Brooks’ “The Dance” on the ballpark speakers as a tribute to reliever Steve Olin, who had tragically died in a spring training boating accident two years earlier. That’s when it hit Brett how much the team meant to his dad.
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“If you knew me and my brothers,” Brett says, “you wouldn’t necessarily blame him for wanting the break.”
Daryl Gates (right) and his favorite beer vendor/babysitter. (Courtesy of Brett Gates)

The home opener was a rite of spring in the Gates household. Brett was stunned when he came home from third grade on April 1, 1996, and saw his dad wasn’t two hours north, shivering through nine innings. The game against the Yankees had been snowed out.

Daryl typically attended the home opener with some buddies, since his sons were in school, but he made sure to bring the boys to one of the first weekend games of the home slate. In 1997, they were halfway up I-71 for the Indians’ second home game when it was postponed because of rain. Daryl detoured to a Mansfield movie theater, and the boys caught all but the first half-hour of “The Lost World: Jurassic Park.”

Baseball was embedded in the family DNA. Daryl coached his sons and developed a reputation for stomping and throwing his hat. Even as the boys sprouted their families, they tried to make time for their baseball team. When Daryl called to say he had an extra ticket for Game 4 of the 2016 World Series at Wrigley Field, Brett didn’t think twice. They watched Cleveland crawl to within one win of a title.

The 2024 season started customarily. Daryl and Brett convinced themselves the Guardians had a chance to win the division since the AL Central was devoid of any juggernauts. Shane Bieber’s early season elbow injury tested their confidence, but they kept faith.

In mid-April, Daryl fell ill. After a few weeks, he entered hospice.

On May 22, during an afternoon game against the New York Mets, Brett sat bedside, scorebook in hand. Daryl had taught his son how to keep score. Brett still has a stack of scorecards he’s filled out over the years, and he couldn’t help but smirk when he watched a clip of Tom Hanks keeping score at a recent Los Angeles Dodgers game.

Father and son watched Andrés Giménez tie the game with a three-run blast against his former team. They smiled as the second baseman kissed the front of his navy uniform as he crossed home plate. They cheered as the Guardians pulled away for a win and a series sweep in a season that seemed destined for something special.

For Brett, it was a perfect way to say goodbye. His dad passed away two days later.

Now, Brett has his first home opener without his father. He’s found himself reaching for his phone to send his dad a text after certain moments of Guardians games. He can envision the fiery back-and-forth they would have had after Gabriel Arias ran — and then tackled — his way into a double play in San Diego last week.

He knows it will be difficult to see Progressive Field filled during the home opener, yet empty at the same time. It’ll be missing the guy who would have done anything to be there, even if it meant driving through a blizzard in his van just to sit through a blustery day of baseball.

Brett knows, though, that another home opener means a chance to embrace all of the memories that will undoubtedly come flooding back.

“It’s the shared experience and love for something,” Brett says, “and that’s all you can ask for in this world. No matter what, there will be stories to tell for many years to come, and I have my dad to thank for that.”

Were you there for Guardians’ walk-off walk & a little history? — Terry Pluto
Updated: Apr. 08, 2025, 8:26 p.m.





By Terry Pluto, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — I’ve seen a lot of home openers in Cleveland — at least 30 — but never one quite like this.

Cold weather? Sure.


As former Guardians manager Terry Francona used to say, “April in Cleveland.”

Left unsaid but understood was if you come to these games, it’s wise to wear a stocking cap and gloves. Load up on the hot chocolate.

On this deceptively sunny Tuesday, the game time temperature was 35.


But it’s April in Cleveland.

Fifty years ago, Frank Robinson became the first African American manager in MLB history. The date was April 8, 1975. The place was old Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

Robinson not only was managing, but also batted second in the lineup — a lineup that Robinson made out himself.

I got to know Robinson when I covered the 1979 Orioles and he was a coach. Robinson told me that first game and that first at-bat was perhaps the most nervous he ever felt as a player.



He homered off New York’s Doc Medich. Robinson talked about almost floating around the bases. The Tribe won 5-3. Gaylord Perry started. Boog Powell and Jack Brohamer had big hits.

I admit taking a certain pleasure in writing those names of the old Tribe players of my youth.

Tuesday, the Guardians brought in Frank Robinson’s wife Barbara Robinson and daughter Nichelle Robinson for the game. They took the lineup card to home plate.

Game time temperature from that opener of a half-century ago … 36 degrees … one degree warmer than Tuesday.



Nostalgic Mood
I was in a nostalgic mood watching the Guardians beat the White Sox 1-0 Tuesday.

Sixty years ago, Rocky Colavito returned to Cleveland. The fan favorite was traded to Detroit right before the 1960 home opener.

Five years later, Colavito came back in another trade.

On April 21, 1965, Colavito was on the field as fans screamed and brought signs reading “Welcome Back Rocky.” I was there with my dad.

Cleveland won 6-5 in 10 innings, beating the Angels on a home run by Leon Wagner. The man known as “Daddy Wags” had two homers in the game. Colavito hit one.


Sam McDowell started that day for Cleveland. The Tribe used Luis Tiant and Sonny Siebert in relief. Fans of a certain age will read that and say, “Aren’t all those guys starters?”

Yes and no.

They were both in 1965, when pitchers … well … pitched.

Tiant started 30 games and relieved in 11 others. Siebert made 27 starts, 12 appearances out of the bullpen. McDowell was the ace with 35 starts, but also relieved seven times.

It was like the baseball gods smiled on Rocky and Cleveland. Game time temperature was 74.

Rocky died on Dec. 10, 2024, at the age of 91. Tuesday, his son Steve Colavito was at the game to catch the first pitch from Ohio State football star Jack Sawyer.

The Guardians embraced the history and the moment with these nice touches.



Cold & colder
The only thing colder than the weather was the bats for both teams.

The 35-degree temperature was the second lowest in the history of Progressive Field home openers, which dates back to 1994.

In 2016, the game time temperature was 34. Maybe the frigid weather is a good omen. That 2016 Tribe team went to the World Series.

For that to happen this season, a lot has to change — and improve.

The Guardians are 4-6 after the victory. They didn’t get a hit until the sixth inning. They needed three walks in the ninth to win it.

In that final inning, many Guardians fans were probably screaming “Don’t swing!” through chattering teeth.


On the mound for the White Sox was former Cleveland pitcher Mike Clevinger. He entered the day having walked four in 2 1/3 innings this season.

Yes, the former starter for Cleveland is now in the bullpen with the sad sack White Sox. A lot has happened (including a second Tommy John elbow surgery) since Clevinger was a terrific starter in Cleveland.

From 2016-20, Clevinger had a 42-22 record with a 3.20 ERA for the Tribe.

Now, he’s struggling at the age of 34.

He gave up an infield hit to Carlos Santana, who turned 39 on this day. Then Clevinger walked three in a row. The last hitter was Nolan Jones. When he swung at a 3-and-1 pitch I almost yelled, “Don’t do it!”


Jones fouled it off. Then Clevinger’s next pitch was ball four.

Ballgame.

A walk-off walk.

Years from now, some of these fans will say, “Remember when our hands and feet were frozen and we were begging Nolan Jones not to swing?”

Then they’ll laugh … thanks to a warm home opener memory from a very cold April afternoon.

How do the Guardians keep beating the odds? The week in baseball

Updated: Apr. 12, 2025, 11:56 a.m.|Published: Apr. 12, 2025, 11:34 a.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Sometimes it is good to stop and reflect on the ground that has been covered, to consider what has been gained or lost.

Entering this season, the Guardians have the second best regular-season record in the American League and the third best in the big leagues over the last 12 years at 1,013-826 (.551)

In those 12 years, they have gone to the postseason seven times, winning five AL Central titles and an AL pennant in 2016.

The Guardians started that 12-year stretch under former manager Terry Francona with eight straight winning seasons in which they had the best record in the AL at 673-519 (.565). Only three other big league teams matched that eight-season winning streak.

The good times continued under rookie manager Stephen Vogt last year with an AL Central title and a trip to the American League Championship Series.

The Guardians have done that despite an industry-wide pay structure that puts small-market teams at a disadvantage over their rivals in larger markets. Baseball does not have a salary cap. The NFL, NBA and NHL, the three other major professional sports in North America, all have caps to control team payrolls.

The financial gap between teams with the biggest and smallest payrolls in the NFL, NBA and NHL ranges from $35 million to $95 million. The gap between the team with the biggest payroll in MLB (Dodgers) and the team with the smallest payroll (Marlins) is over $260 million, according to Spotrac.

The Guardians, according to Spotrac, opened this season with a payroll of $99,590,961 for the 26-man roster and players on the injured list. The Dodgers’ 26-man payroll is $331,013,580.

“We understand what our reality is and the economic system in baseball is what it is,” said GM Mike Chernoff. “Rather than fixate on that, our goal over the last 12 years or so is to recognize what the situation is, and win regardless of what the economic system is.”

It is not an easy path.

This winter the Guardians traded two of their best players in Josh Naylor and Andrés Giménez. Naylor, who hit 31 homers and drove in 108 runs last year, will be a free agent at the end of the 2025 season. Giménez, a three-time Gold Glove winning second baseman, was entering the third year of a seven-year $106.5 million extension he signed with Cleveland in 2023. Giménez’s offense had slipped and the Guardians felt they could put the remainder of his contract to better use if they traded him.

“We know we have to do things differently,” said Chernoff. “We can’t field a team that is full of free agents within the economic reality of our market under the current system. We embrace that and recognize that means we have to make hard trades and make tough decisions.”

Here’s one of the ways they keep talent flowing through the roster:

They acquired Naylor from San Diego in 2020 as part of the Mike Clevinger trade. He became an All-Star and a solid run producer in Cleveland before they traded him in December to Arizona for right-hander Slade Ceccone and a Competitive Round B draft pick.

Gabriel Arias, Joey Cantillo and Austin Hedges, all acquired in the Clevinger deal, are still on Cleveland’s 26-man roster.

They acquired Giménez from the Mets in 2021 as part of the Francisco Lindor trade. He became an All-Star in Cleveland and one of the best second basemen in baseball.

They traded Giménez to Toronto in December for infielder Spencer Horwitz. They dealt Horwitz to the Pirates for right-hander Luis Ortiz, who is still trying to find his footing as a member of the starting rotation.

At the trade deadline last year, they sent three prospects to Washington for outfielder Lane Thomas, who hit two big homers in the ALDS against Detroit to help the Guardians advance to the ALCS.

They acquired Kyle Manzardo from the Rays for right-hander Aaron Civale at the trade deadline in 2023. Manzardo is currently leading the team in RBI and tied for the team lead in homers.

In December 2019, they sent two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber to Texas for Emmanuel Clase, who has led the AL in saves for the last three years.

“When you go around our team, you can see a lot of players who are here are a byproduct of the hard decisions we had to make,” said Chernoff. “That’s our only chance to sustain success.”

There’s more at work here than just trades.

“You can’t just make trades and expect to be successful,” said Chernoff. “You have to combine it with drafting and developing players. It’s a huge credit to our scouts, coaches, analysts — the way they work together to build this pipeline of players."Three of the four pillars of this year’s bullpen, Cade Smith, Tim Herrin and Hunter Gaddis, were Cleveland draft picks. As was ace Tanner Bibee and fellow starters Gavin Williams and Logan Allen.

Among position players Steven Kwan, Bo Naylor, Daniel Schneemann and Nolan Jones were drafted, while Brayan Rocchio, Angel Martinez and Jhonkensy Noel were all signed as teenagers as international free agents. Jose Ramirez, the face of the franchise, signed with Cleveland when he was 17.

While free agents such as Juan Soto are off limits, the Guardians dove into the market this winter with the signings of Shane Bieber, Carlos Santana, Paul Sewald and Jakob Junis. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes players from all of baseball’s avenues to build a roster.

So who is pulling the strings in this organization? Is it Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations? Chernoff or Matt Forman, executive vice president and assistant GM? It goes way deeper than that.

“We obsess over that,” said Chernoff. “How do we put together an organization that can do all that? We have exceptional people all over the place and we lose a lot of them all the time.

“You see Matt Quatraro, Bryan Sweeney, Carter Hawkins, Ruben Niebla, Kevin Cash, Derrick Falvey leave and go to big jobs with other teams. It’s hard when you lose great people, but it creates opportunities for new people.

“It’s not just one person. It’s a true organizational culture of opportunity and development for people.”

There is a downside. The Guardians can’t out-spend their mistakes. That makes their margin for error much smaller than, say, the Yankees.

“We have to beat the odds,” said Chernoff.

Last year they came close, making baseball’s Final Four with the Yankees, Dodgers and Mets. The Mets and Yankees had payrolls over $300 million. The Dodgers were pushing $265 million, while the Guardians just below $100 million.

“I know we lost in the ALCS, but I didn’t see a difference between the competitive level of those teams,” said Chernoff. “I think potentially we could have won that series and had a team capable of winning the World Series.”

The long shot didn’t come home last year, but it’s something the Guardians specialize in. They don’t have a choice.

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Emmanuel Clase Gets Honest About Rough Start

April 12, 2025

By Andres Chavez

The Cleveland Guardians are still trying to find their rhythm, like the vast majority of teams in MLB.

They have been playing better this week, sweeping the Chicago White Sox and taking the series opener against the Kansas City Royals at home.

Despite the recent collective surge, closer Emmanuel Clase has looked shaky while handling ninth-inning duties.

As of Saturday evening, he boasts a 6.00 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP in six innings of work this year.

That’s a far cry from the 0.61 mark he put up last year when he took possession of the single-season and franchise records for saves.

It’s very early, yes, but Clase has failed to dominate since the postseason.

Concern is growing among Guardians’ fans.

The pitcher is unfazed, though, and has let the world know that he is not a machine.

“Guardians’ star closer Emmanuel Clase not shaken by slow start: ‘I am human. I can make mistakes,” Guardians reporter Tom Withers posted on X, with words from the ninth-inning stopper.

Perhaps expectations were too high entering the season.

He certainly set the bar high after his phenomenal 2024.

However, a 6.00 ERA is definitely cause for concern for a major league reliever, let alone a closer from a contending team.

He has allowed four runs and ten hits so far: shockingly, that first number is creeping dangerously close to the total of runs he conceded in the entire 2024 campaign.

Clase is too good not to turn things around if he is healthy.

It seems like a command-related issue, but for a squad like the Guardians, every win matters.

Fans hope he can right the ship in relatively short order.

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Welcome back to the Guardians Beat newsletter. My name is Tim Stebbins, and this is my first season covering Cleveland for MLB.com.

CLEVELAND -- Emmanuel Clase has continued to raise the bar by setting a high standard for his performance as the Guardians’ closer the past four seasons. But it's important to not overlook something that recently crossed his mind in a moment of reflection, amid his uneven start to 2025.

“It’s a reminder, I'm also human,” Clase said pregame Saturday, through team interpreter Agustin Rivero. “I can make mistakes and not get the results that I want.”

You might find that hard to believe considering the elite body of work Clase has as the Guardians’ closer. But like any pitcher, he can’t be perfect all the time. We’ve seen that play out early on in 2025. The 27-year-old allowed at least one earned run in four of his first seven appearances. He allowed two runs on four hits against the Royals on Saturday.

Last year, when Clase recorded a 0.61 ERA in 74 regular-season appearances and finished third in AL Cy Young Award voting, he permitted just five earned runs in 74 1/3 innings. He has yielded six earned runs in seven innings across seven outings this year.

Clase is coming off a turbulent postseason last fall, when he surrendered eight runs on 12 hits (three home runs) in eight innings over seven appearances. Of course, that’s only part of the résumé he has compiled as Cleveland’s closer.

From 2021-24, Clase recorded a 1.62 ERA and 157 saves, both of which ranked first in the Majors (minimum 50 innings for ERA).

“When you're perfect for a whole season last year and then you have a couple games where you give up runs, all of a sudden now people are asking about you,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “We talk about it all the time with the bullpen guys. We didn't get any questions about the bullpen [Friday] night, because we don't talk about them when they do their job.

“For Clase, it's keep being you. We're always working on things to get better. We're always trying to find different ways to be successful. But just be Emmanuel Clase and go pitch.”






So, what could be behind the early results? Vogt noted postgame Saturday that Clase appeared to be missing over the middle of the plate. The results could all just be a blip over a small sample size. Clase said his body is feeling good, and his velocity this season is consistent with that. Over his first six outings, his cutter averaged 99 mph (99.5 in ’24) and his slider 89.8 mph (91.0 in ’24).

Batters have been more aggressive early in the count against Clase, swinging 50% of the time in 0-0 counts (15 swings on 30 pitches). But Clase is a pitcher who pounds the strike zone, and hitters were just 1-for-5 against him in those spots entering Saturday.

“I feel like they've been aggressive all along,” Clase said. “I feel that's the only way they can attack me, in a way, because I’m a pitcher that throws a lot of strikes, that attacks the zone. And having only two pitches, that's the plan of attack. I feel it’s on me trying to execute better pitches in and out and mixing them up a little bit.”

One adjustment Vogt noted could be beneficial is Clase mixing in his slider more -- which he has done. Clase threw it 20.5% of the time in 2024 and had thrown it at a 31.5% rate entering Saturday. Opponents went 5-for-7 against it through six games.

“We saw that the slider was looking very similar to the cutter, obviously the profile, in a way,” Clase said. “So we're working, trying to make the slider have a little bit more depth, that angle towards the bottom of home plate.”

That could help Clase put batters away. He entered Saturday with a 40.5% whiff rate with zero or one strikes, and a 27.3% whiff rate with two strikes. Clase also has worked on his sinker and said he feels confident using it at any time.

He expressed his appreciation for the support he’s received from his teammates, which included a strong backing by catcher Austin Hedges this week.

“When you go and you put up a 0.60 ERA for a season, the league is going to do something about it,” Hedges said. “Now it's up to us and up to him to continue to get better. … He's got the ability to do so many things on the mound, not just throw the cutter. So we're going to keep being creative.

“When we look up at the end of September, I think everyone's going to remember why he's the best pitcher in the world.”






QUOTABLE

“We love Cleveland. We love being here. We love our fans. We love Progressive [Field]. Guys are sleeping in the bed they’re going to be sleeping in for the next seven months. So there is a comfort of getting home and playing in front of our fans and knowing that we're in our clubhouse, we're doing our routines. Our guys, they thrive at home.” -- Vogt on the Guardians, who won five straight home games after opening the season 3-6 on a nine-game road trip

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I don't care for the new beatwriter, bring back Mandy Bell

What a blind résumé test can tell us about the Cleveland Guardians CLEVELAND, OHIO - APRIL 12: Gabriel Arias #13 of the Cleveland Guardians hits an RBI infield single during the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field on April 12, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
By Zack Meisel

13
April 14, 2025Updated 3:05 am MST

CLEVELAND — April baseball is intended to mislead you.

Fortune has a greater influence on a smaller sample. And that’s what we have thus far — through about 10 percent of the regular season. A lot can change in a day, a series or a week. Look no further than the Cleveland Guardians, who came into Tuesday’s home opener at 3-6 and finished this week at 8-7.

To get a better sense of what might be fact and what might be fiction, let’s use a blind résumé test and see what we learn.
Player A

Exit velocity: 92nd percentile
Bat speed: 79th percentile
Hard-hit rate: 94th percentile
Walk rate: 85th percentile
Chase rate: 78th percentile

Initial reaction: Whoa, what an unstoppable slugger.

Actual stats: .143/.268/.229 slash line, no homers, six walks, 16 strikeouts in 41 plate appearances.

New reaction: Whoa, which baseball deity did this guy irk?

The player: Nolan Jones

Not only are those metrics encouraging, but they’re actually better than the ones from his rookie season in 2023, when he finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting (and might have finished higher had he not spent the first two months at Triple A).

We can’t ignore the strikeout rate (4th percentile) and whiff rate (14th percentile), of course, but those are part of the package. Jones will walk a lot, strike out a lot and hit for a bunch of power. That last element hasn’t materialized yet this season, but if he maintains those inputs, he should eventually be rewarded, especially since he says he feels exponentially better, physically and mentally, than he did during a rotten, Murphy’s Law-backed last season.
Player B

Exit velocity: 26th percentile
Whiff rate: 1st percentile
Walk rate: 48th percentile
Strikeout rate: 25th percentile

Initial reaction: That’s not very inspiring.

But, hang on a second …

Bat speed: 95th percentile
Hard-hit rate: 66th percentile
Expected slugging percentage: 76th percentile

Actual stats: .267/.333/.489 slash line, three homers, four walks, 15 strikeouts in 51 plate appearances.

New reaction: Hmm, fascinating.

The player: Gabriel Arias

Obviously, the question here is whether his production is sustainable. But when the hits are opposite-field blasts instead of softly struck singles — and when it comes with quality, versatile defense — it buys him more time to prove himself.

His power is special. Arias’ whiff rate is what fuels the skepticism, and his ground-ball rate (70 percent) needs to drop dramatically. (His career rate is 55.5 percent, and the league average is 44.4 percent. If he’s going to whack fastballs, it’s better to whack them in the air.)
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Arias has feasted on fastballs this season, but to keep receiving a steady diet of them, he’ll either need to demonstrate the plate discipline to resist breaking balls out of the zone or exhibit the contact ability to spoil those offerings until the pitcher resorts to the heater.

We’ll see if he can keep this up, but as long as he keeps his OPS around .800, no one’s going to ask questions.
Player C

Expected slugging percentage: 86th percentile
Walk rate: 93rd percentile
Chase rate: 87th percentile

Initial reaction: All-Star season incoming.

Actual stats: .196/.339/.522 slash line, four homers, 10 walks, 15 strikeouts in 59 plate appearances.

New reaction: It’s all there for him to be a middle-of-the-order slugger.

The player: Kyle Manzardo

This is the profile of one of the top sluggers in the league, a guy who’s selective enough to force pitchers to come into the zone and make them pay once they oblige.

Last season, he fell in the middle of the pack in most metrics. This year, he’s among the league leaders in several categories that typically translate to flashy numbers. He has had no trouble with lefties and has nearly tripled his walk rate from last year as he bids to become a complete, everyday option.

Those improvements should serve him well in the long run.
Kyle Manzardo has drawn more walks (10) in 15 games this year than he did in 53 games last season (nine). (Luke Hales / Getty Images)
Player D

Opponent hard-hit rate: 83rd percentile
Opponent chase rate: 77th percentile
Opponent strikeout rate: 64th percentile
Average fastball velocity: 96.8 mph

Initial reaction: This looks like the profile of a No. 2 starter.

Actual stats: 3.46 ERA, 13 innings, 14 strikeouts.

New reaction: The ingredients are there for the breakout season so many have envisioned.

The player: Gavin Williams

If there’s a critique to toss Williams’ way, it’s that he needed 75 pitches to labor through three innings in Anaheim and another 94 to complete five (strong) innings against the White Sox.

The 6-foot-6, 250-pounder is built like someone who could log 200 innings without breaking a sweat. To do that, and to spare his bullpen, he’ll need to be more efficient. Other than that, he seems poised to piece together his first full, productive big-league season.
Player E

Opponent strikeout rate: 45th percentile
Opponent whiff rate: 60th percentile
Opponent average exit velocity: 14th percentile
Opponent chase rate: 37th percentile

Initial reaction: This guy seems bound for the back of a rotation.

Actual stats: 16 1/3 innings, 17 hits, 11 earned runs, six walks, 15 strikeouts, 6.06 ERA.

Actual stats, minus his first start: 11 2/3 innings, two walks, 13 strikeouts, 3.09 ERA.

New reaction: You have my attention.

The player: Luis Ortiz

Ortiz’s first three starts, respectively, could be classified as ugly, satisfactory and excellent. He’s offered a wide-ranging view of The Luis Ortiz Experience in a span of a couple of weeks.

In his first outing in San Diego, he struck out two. Against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, he piled up a career-high 10 strikeouts and jumped from the 6th percentile to the 45th percentile in strikeout rate.

Manager Stephen Vogt has said the key for Ortiz is throwing strikes consistently enough so that his array of heaters — a fastball, cutter and sinker, each with a different movement profile — befuddles hitters. On Saturday, the Royals offered at 17 of his four-seamers and whiffed on eight of those swings.

“Get in the strike zone,” Vogt said, “and make the hitters make a late decision.”
Player F

Opponent chase rate: 96th percentile
Opponent walk rate: 94th percentile
Opponent whiff rate: 82nd percentile
Average cutter velocity: 98.9 mph

Initial reaction: Clearly, no hitter ever touches this guy.

Actual stats: seven innings, 14 hits, six earned runs, one walk, seven strikeouts.

New reaction: Something doesn’t add up here.

The player: Emmanuel Clase

The stuff still can be elite. This is a matter of hitting his spots and doing so in a less predictable manner. If a hitter can gear up for a 99 mph cutter in the zone, knowing he’s likely to see that pitch — and see it over the plate — he can hit it.
Opponent average exit velocity, by year
2022

86.3 mph
2023

88.4 mph
2024

86.5 mph
2025

89.6 mph

In the past, hitters were so paranoid about the cutter that it left them vulnerable on the slider, which resembled the cutter until it’s too late to adjust. This year, Clase hasn’t had a great feel for the slider, and hitters haven’t had much trouble differentiating between the two.

Clase has already allowed more earned runs (six) than he did the entire 2024 regular season (five). He has built a career on inducing weak contact, but he’s surrendering a ton of sharply struck pulled base hits. Hitters aren’t late on the cutter anymore. They’re ready for it because they know it’s coming, and Clase is catching too much of the plate with it.

“When you’re perfect for a whole season last year and then you have a couple games where you give up runs,” Vogt said, “all of a sudden now people are asking about you.”

Clase certainly isn’t running from the spotlight. On Saturday, when the Guardians were threatening to score in the eighth inning and erase a save opportunity for their closer, the coaches dialed the bullpen phone to ask if Clase still wanted the work. He didn’t hesitate, even though the ninth inning proved to be another struggle for him — he gave up two runs.

“He can’t wait to get back out there,” Vogt said. “It’s going to help.”

Interesting. The one I really can't figure out is Jones; the one thing he has failed to do with some consistency over closing in on 200 at bats is to hit a homerun
He projects success but nothing much comes of it.
Brennan has far less of a "ceiling" but he can be a consistent not quite average major league RF. How long does he wait to get a return visit?

The Athletic annual poll of baseball front office folks on the best of their peers
probably need access to read this but if you can: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/627380 ... dailyemail

Guardians finish 4th

4. Cleveland Guardians
Total points: 104.5
First-place votes: 2.5
2024 rank: 4th , 101 points, 2 first-place votes
President of baseball operations: Chris Antonetti
Cleveland has long been considered a finishing school for executive talent, and the dean is Chris Antonetti, now in his 27th season in an organization known for its collaborative, innovative decisions.
“I think everyone in the industry respects the way Chris sees the world, his ability to cultivate staff and have people want to work for him, believe in what he’s doing and want to work in Cleveland,” said one AL GM. “He’s kind of unmatched in that regard. There’s a huge group of people who (have offers to go elsewhere and) don’t leave because they love what Chris has built and love working for him every day. I don’t think there’s any executive in the industry who has more respect from his peers than Chris in terms of what type of person he is.”
While ownership rarely gives Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff much to work with, they’ve managed to keep franchise cornerstone José Ramírez, top starter Tanner Bibee and star closer Emmanuel Clase with reasonable long-term deals. [PLESAE SIGN KWAN NEXT!]
“They really care about people there,” one NL GM said. “I think that allows them to compete and to hang on to a lot of talent, both on the field and off.”

The best and worst year of Nolan Jones’ life, and what the public doesn’t see ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 04: Nolan Jones #22 of the Cleveland Guardians in the seventh inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 04, 2025 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
By Zack Meisel

22
April 16, 2025Updated 9:35 am MST

Nolan Jones can still visualize the texts and hear the voicemails.

He can recall the stranger’s voice on the other line who interrupted a conversation with his fiancée on April 1, 2024.

Jones ignored the first call. But when the person dialed again, he told Morgan, who was about five months pregnant, he’d call her right back.

The Guardians’ right fielder can still hear the threats that person and the countless others who called and texted hurled at him that night.

I’m going to kill you.

I’m going to kill your wife.

I’m going to kill your family.

You should kill yourself.

On a brisk afternoon at Wrigley Field that day, Jones, then with the Rockies, allowed a sharp single to scoot under his glove and roll to the ivy-covered wall in left field. He retrieved the baseball and bounced a throw to the cutoff man, resulting in a Little League home run. A 1-0 Colorado deficit became a 4-0 hole. Jones became a prime target for fan vitriol, just five games into a new season.

After the game, a displeased viewer posted Jones’ phone number on social media. For two hours in a lonely Chicago hotel room, as the calls and texts poured in, he cried and wondered how such a promising season had already spiraled out of control.

It was the beginning of the worst year of Jones’ life.

It was the beginning of the best year of his life, too.

The most daunting challenge the big leagues present, Jones says, is believing you belong there in the first place. Entering the 2024 season, Jones had no doubts.

He finished fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2023, with a 20-homer, 20-steals season, a league-high 19 outfield assists and more than enough production against left-handed pitching and also away from the thin air at Coors Field to have the Rockies (and himself) confident he was a long-term core piece.

He established lofty goals for himself for 2024: 30 homers, 30 steals, 25 outfield assists, an All-Star nod and a Gold Glove Award.

To his detriment, he chased those figures.

“Every single day that I didn’t succeed in getting closer to those goals felt like a failure,” he says.

Five games, two hits and four errors into the 2024 season, Jones was distraught. That confidence, he found, is fleeting and fragile. Those self-prescribed expectations, he learned, were suffocating and counterproductive.

He misplayed a foul ball in the Rockies’ second game. Two days later, he dropped a lazy fly to left, allowing a run to score. The next afternoon, on the North Side of Chicago, it reached a crescendo.

He remembers thinking: “‘What is going on? How am I here? How did I come into this season on such a high, and five games into it, I’m sitting in my hotel room crying?’

“We make a mistake, we’re on TV — that’s the role I chose and the position I want to be in. But when I was hit with my first failures in the big leagues, it really opened my eyes.”

He scaled back his social media use, tightened his inner circle, and tried to assure himself that in a few weeks or months, no one would remember these missteps.

“People see athletes as superheroes, and (think) we’re not human,” he says. “I’ve asked and worked for this my whole life. I want to be out there every single day. But that thought creeps in the back of your mind: ‘What if I fail again? What if this happens? What if that happens?’ That’s what I had to work on.”

Injuries made matters worse. A lower back strain sidelined him at the end of April. At the time, he owned a .170 batting average and had hit one home run. He couldn’t escape those numbers while on the injured list. Even with a baby on the way, it was all he could think about.

A knee injury sustained during his rehab assignment delayed his return to the majors until mid-June. A month later, his back flared up again.

The morning of Aug. 4, he flew home to Denver from a rehab assignment in Fresno, Calif., just in time for the birth of his first child.

When Jones’ daughter, Kamryn, was born, she was breathing rapidly through her stomach instead of her chest, at 70 breaths per minute instead of 30-60. She had fluid in her lungs and was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit for treatment.

“I definitely felt helpless,” he says.

They supplied her with oxygen and monitored her for three days. Jones’ .623 OPS, those early-April errors, and his back pain all seemed inconsequential.

Following Kamryn’s discharge from the hospital, the family arrived home at 11:30 p.m. Jones flew to Albuquerque, N.M., at 7 a.m. the next day to continue his rehab assignment.

Four games in Albuquerque. Four more in Round Rock, Texas. Then, the Rockies activated him from the injured list, just in time for another road trip. Three games in Washington, D.C. Three more at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

Finally, three weeks after his daughter was born, Jones was back home.

“It was terrible,” he says. “I felt so guilty.”
Jones, pictured with Cleveland Guardians teammates Steven Kwan and Lane Thomas, entered the 2025 season feeling stronger, both mentally and physically. (Kyle Rivas / Getty Images)

He fared a bit better at the plate over the final six weeks of the season, but he didn’t supply any power. He finished the year with three homers, five stolen bases and four outfield assists. No All-Star nod. No Gold Glove Award.

“I sucked last year,” he says. “I’ll be the first one to tell you that and there’s no excuse. I get paid to play baseball and I have to show up and do that every single day, no matter what’s going on in my life. But there is an aspect of, most of the guys in here have families, we have pets or children or grandparents, and we go through the same stuff that every other person goes through. I will be the first person to tell you that I didn’t perform last year and I should have been able to, but it’s hard when you have other things going on in your life.”

Kamryn used an oxygen tank for a month. The new parents had to ensure the tubes didn’t wiggle free from her nose at night, so they didn’t sleep much. Mornings often included trips to the hospital for tests. Doctors would decrease her supply of oxygen to see what she could handle. Each trial took about two hours. Then, Jones would head to the ballpark.

When his triumphant 2023 season ended, Jones segued immediately into training for 2024. He didn’t want to lose his confidence or the feel for his swing, so he didn’t take a break. When his body broke down during the 2024 season, he realized that approach had been a mistake.

After the 2024 season mercifully sputtered to the end, Jones focused on fatherhood. The family moved into a new house five days after the season ended. Before their furniture arrived, the couple would sprawl on the floor and stare at their baby. During one of those sessions, Kamryn smiled for the first time. To Jones, nothing else mattered.

Jones spent the first month of the offseason learning how to be a dad and completing physical therapy to restore his back and knees to full strength. He contends he’s healthier physically — and mentally — than he could have imagined possible. Kamryn is healthy, too. She no longer needs supplemental oxygen.

There’s nothing Jones cherishes more than returning home after a game to see the face of someone who has no idea if he went 0-for-4 or 4-for-4.

“It definitely gives you a different appreciation and love that I’ve never felt before,” he says. “I get to go home and hold this little girl who just wants to lick my face and smack me. It changed everything for me.”

The whirlwind calendar year culminated in a trade back to Cleveland, the organization that first drafted him. A slow start hasn’t derailed him, partly because he’s confident he’ll eventually be rewarded for all of the loud contact he has made.

In the ninth inning of Cleveland’s home opener last week, Jones stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and the score tied. A year earlier, he says, he would have doubted himself with every footstep from the on-deck circle to the batter’s box.

“I’ve put in hours and hours on my mental health to get in that headspace where I’m back to believing in myself, knowing I can do this,” he says.

He yanked a 3-1 fastball about four winter beanies to the wrong side of the right-field foul pole. Jones looked to the dugout and locked eyes with his manager. They both couldn’t help but laugh at how close he had come to socking a walk-off grand slam in his return to Cleveland on a frigid afternoon.

Instead, he drew a walk on the next pitch. He tossed his bat, stared at his teammates as they spilled out of the dugout, raised his arms, jogged to first base and exhaled.

It’s been a year.

As taxing and trying as it was, he wouldn’t change it.

“I would never wish upon anyone what I went through last year, both physically and mentally,” he says. “But I think it put me in a better spot. … I had a tough year, but got the biggest blessing I could ever ask for.”