Cleveland Indians: Three players that could become the Tribe’s closer

Nick Wittgren

Being frequently called on in the seventh or eighth inning during the 2020 season, Nick Wittgren seems like the front runner to get the first chance at the ninth inning if the team parts with Hand. While Wittgren wasn’t the best reliever out of the bullpen, the team consistently turned to him late in games, which hints that he could be the next closer.

During the 2020 season, Wittgren was called on in 25 games, tossing 23.2 innings. Over that span, he registered a 3.42 ERA and 1.01 WHIP while striking out 28 batters. Those numbers are respectable and not too far off from what the Indians saw from Brad Hand over the course of the season.

Wittgren was also used as a closer a few times during the 2019 season, saving four games for the Indians. Those are his only saves in the majors, but in the minor leagues with the Miami Marlins, he was frequently called on in save situations.

During the 2015 season, Wittgren pitched in 51 games for Triple-A New Orleans and saved 19 games for the club. In 2014 with Double-A Jacksonville he registered 20 and in 2013 with A+ Jupiter he had 25.

The experience in closing games is there for Wittgren and the trust with the coaching staff late in games has also been shown. For those two reasons, he could very well be in line to take over the ninth inning in Cleveland.

James Karinchak

Any player who has a triple-digit fastball paired with a nasty breaking ball has a shot at closing if they can control it and James Karinchak can do all those things. He doesn’t have a ton of big league experience yet, but the overall thought surrounding Karinchak is that he is the ideal closer of the future in Cleveland.

Karinchak was the Indians’ most used reliever during the 2020 season, making 27 appearances and totaling 27 innings. At the age of 25, he seems like he has all the tools a team looks for in a closer.

During the 2020 season, Karinchak logged a low 2.67 ERA with a 1.11 WHIP while striking out 53 batters, averaging almost two strikeouts an inning. He was also able to log one save, one of four that weren’t clinched by Hand. The others belonged to Oliver Perez, Adam Plutko and Cam Hill.

However, unlike Wittgren, Karinchak doesn’t have as much of a resume when it comes to closing in the minors. Karinchak had a total of 22 saves over his entire minor league career, a number that Wittgren eclipsed in a single season more than once. That isn’t to say that Karinchak couldn’t become the closer, but it might just be a harder transition for him.

Emmanuel Clase

This is a shot in the dark because we haven’t seen Emmanuel Clase pitch for the Indians yet following his suspension during the 2020 season, but he checks all the same boxes that Karinchak does. He has a blazing fast fastball and it is more than proven that that can be enough to lock down the ninth inning.

Clase only has 23.1 innings of major league experience over 21 games with the Texas Rangers in 2019. That isn’t a large sample size, but he did log one save over that span. Should Clase be put into the mix, he likely wouldn’t take over until deeper into the season to get him back in the swing of things.

Clase’s minor league resume is also similar to Karinchak in the way that he didn’t close out many games. Over 92 games pitched in the minors, Clase had just 24 saves.

Given his skill set, Clase is more of a setup man at this point, but he has the potential to eventually become the closer, it just might not be in 2021. He’s only 22-years old, so he has a lot of time to blossom into whatever role he is assigned in the bullpen.