How Mariners’ Andrés Muñoz and Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase became ‘baseball brothers’

CLEVELAND – The idea of it seems too good to be true, the two of them pitching out of the same bullpen.

But it did happen when Andrés Muñoz and Emmanuel Clase were teenagers pitching together in the San Diego Padres organization.

It could happen again next month at the MLB All-Star Game in Texas.

And the idea of that seems too good to be true for Muñoz, the Mariners’ 25-year-old de facto closer.

“I don’t know about that,” Muñoz said Thursday morning, asked about the possibility of making his first All-Star Game. “For me, that is the last thing that I think. Right now, I am just concentrating on today. Day by day.”

Muñoz spent a few minutes reminiscing, though, about his first days in pro baseball, as a 16-year-old from Mexico whose first assignment was in the Dominican Republic.

Clase, now Cleveland’s electric closer, was the first teammate Muñoz met when he arrived in the DR.

They lived together, and Muñoz said they grew close. They became “baseball brothers,” he said.

They pitched together for a couple of years in the Padres’ minor leagues. They flew together from the DR to Arizona for rookie league, and even pitched together (briefly) in Pasco for the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2017.

Muñoz said they would often have a friendly competition during throwing sessions as teenagers to see who could throw faster.

“I would always win,” Muñoz said with a laugh.

They both still throw plenty hard. Clase, a two-time All-Star, leads the American League in saves (21) and has a 0.79 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 34⅓ innings.

Muñoz has been invaluable at the back end of the Mariners’ bullpen, with 13 saves and a 1.47 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. He recorded his third five-out save of the season – most in the majors – in the Mariners’ victory over the Guardians on Tuesday.

They were separated in 2018 when the Padres traded Clase to Texas in 2018 (for a backup catcher named Brett Nicholas who never wound up appearing in a game for the Padres).

Two years later, the Padres traded Muñoz to Seattle as part of a package that also included Ty France and Matt Brash for catcher Austin Nola and reliever Taylor Williams.

On Wednesday, Muñoz and Clase had a chance to catch up during a pregame chat in front of Cleveland’s dugout.

Holding a baseball, Clase showed Muñoz his grip on some pitches, but Muñoz said they were mostly just talking about their personal lives.

“Obviously, I want us to win,” Muñoz said. “But seeing him there, I’m proud of him.”

Pitching through with a lower-back strain since late March, Muñoz said he is no longer feeling any pain in his back after receiving an injection last week.

“I feel really good,” he said.