Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak are ending games faster with this one weird trick — doctors hate them!
It’s no secret that the Guardians bullpen’s 2023 performance has been a little uneven. A lot of the reason for that has revolved around two players who were the eighth- and ninth-inning options in 2022, Karinchak and Clase, respectively. Karinchak’s xERA has ballooned from 2.92 in 2022 to 4.04 in 2023 and his FIP from 2.29 to 5.62 entering play on Tuesday. His strikeout rate is down 1.7 per 9 and his walk rate is up 0.5 per 9. Clase has seen his xERA go from 1.