CLEVELAND — The back-end of the Guardians bullpen has been a bit shakier than in the past. Half of that equation seems to be back on the right track. The other half hasn’t figured it all out yet.
For the last few years, Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak have combined to possess some of the best pure stuff of any 1-2 punch in baseball. It’s a major reason as to why the Guardians have fared so well under MLB’s new extra innings rule, which has put an emphasis on shut-down and/or high-strikeout relievers in those situations.
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For both pitchers, the 2023 season stated on some shaky ground. Clase has remained effective but hasn’t been quite the same, automatic 1-2-3 pitcher the Guardians have come to expect. He’s posted a 3.60 ERA and leads the American League with 17 saves. He’s been productive. But after posting sub-1.40 ERAs the last two seasons, it has taken time for him to find his footing.
Namely, that has meant his fire-ball velocity. Clase’s cutter averaged 100.2 mph in 2021, then dropped to 99.5 last year. This season, it’s been sitting at 98.2 mph, but lately it has been creeping back up. In his last outing, which came in Friday night’s 4-3 win, Clase bent but didn’t break to earn the save while his cutter velocity averaged 99.2 mph.
“So the [velocity], that’s back again. But as we’ve seen as the game’s evolved, if you don’t command your velocity or if you don’t have that secondary pitch to go along with it … I don’t know how they do it, but these hitters can make you pay,” said pitching coach Carl Willis. “He’s shown some signs. He’s created a little more depth that we were accustomed to seeing with a slider that’s improved. So I don’t necessarily think that there has been a different approach [from hitters]. It’s been more execution.”
While Clase could be back on the right track, Karinchak has seemingly derailed.
In 21 2/3 innings, Karinchak has posted a 4.57 ERA with an unsightly 6.52 FIP, which suggests he’s been worse than his traditional numbers would indicate. The main culprit: control. Karinchak has walked 16 hitters, and those issues came to a head in Saturday night’s loss when, with the score tied 1-1, he walked the bases loaded only 16 pitches. Karinchak and the Guardians were fortunate that Sam Hentges pulled off a Houdini act to escape the inning with the score still deadlocked. But Karinchak’s control has made him a tricky option in close games. Although, he hasn’t only missed outside the zone. Karinchak has also allowed six home runs after giving up only two in 39 innings a year ago.
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Either way, Karinchak hasn’t been hitting his spots. And before anything else with his velocity or movement, that’s priority one.
“I think for the most part we dug in and tried to identify the best target zones, and if he was attempting to go to that target zone, was he executing it?” Willis said. “I mean, when mistakes made are made, [the home runs have] happened. So we’ve really been able to focus on, hey, let’s really try to focus particularly in certain counts on this area of this zone. And hopefully that’s going to help that problem.”
Karinchak’s below-average start to the 2023 season has opened up more opportunities in some high-leverage situations. It’s a role that both Enyel De Los Santos and Xzavion Curry have stepped into at varying degrees. De Los Santos has been terrific, posting a 1.89 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 19 innings.
“I think he performed adequately [in high leverage situations last year], but I think he’s even more confident now and really has picked us up here over the past 10 days or so, maybe even longer,” Willis said. “And I think I saw the other day, he said, when the manager has the confidence in you to put you in those situations, it really makes you feel good. And I think it makes your confidence grow. And he’s got a lot of it right now and he should.”
Curry has a 2.22 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings, including a three-inning win in Sunday’s game, which ended with a walk-off double by Jose Ramirez. But without Curry tossing three scoreless innings, it’s possible that Ramirez’s double doesn’t mean nearly as much in the end.
Along the way, Curry has adapted to any role or situation the Guardians have needed. And as Karinchak has struggled, De Los Santos and Curry have combined to fill that void in bridging the gap to Clase.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at [email protected]. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians bullpen reshuffled: James Karinchak struggling with control