Corey Kluber is back to looking like the reigning Cy Young winner
Remember when some people within the baseball community were worried about Cleveland Indians pitcher Corey Kluber a few weeks ago? Those concerns seem to have vanished as Kluber has looked like the reigning American League Cy Young award winner over his past couple starts.
Through seven starts, things were not looking great. Kluber carried an 0-5 record into May with a 5.04 ERA. While that may have worried some fans, there was plenty of evidence Kluber would eventually right the ship. As Ian Denomme noted at the time, Kluber’s strikeout and walk rates were in good shape, so a surge seemed possible.
That’s precisely what has happened in his past two starts. Last week, Kluber struck out 18 batters in just eight innings. He did not allow a hit until the seventh inning, and would have had a chance at breaking the single-game strikeout record had manager Terry Francona opted to leave him in for the ninth.
Maybe Francona should have left him in, because Kluber looked as though he hadn’t missed a beat Monday against the Chicago White Sox. To kick things off, Kluber struck out the side in the first, giving him 21 strikeouts over a nine-inning period. He would go on to strike out the first five hitters he faced against Chicago.
Kluber’s bid for the no-hitter didn’t last as long this time, as he lost it in the fourth inning, but the start was still incredibly impressive. Kluber allowed one run on five hits over nine innings. He struck out 12 batters.
The major-league record for strikeouts in consecutive games is 33. Kerry Wood accomplished that feat in 1998. After his incredible 20-strikeout performance against the Houston Astros, Wood struck out 13 Arizona Diamondbacks his next time out. After Kluber’s last two starts, he came up just three strikeouts short of that record.
Amazingly, Kluber did not receive the win for his performance. He was matched by White Sox ace Chris Sale during the start, leading to a no decision. The Indians would go on to lose 2-1 in extra innings.
After his most recent run, there’s some evidence Kluber is actually performing better than he did last season.
There may have been talk about Kluber struggling early in the year, but his strikeout rate is higher, and his walk rate is lower than it was last season. That’s probably enough evidence to suggest he’ll be back near the top of Cy Young voting again when all is said and done this year.
That is, unless the Indians don’t blow it for him. Cleveland has gotten off to a terrible start, and Kluber has already missed out on some wins due to poor run support. Combine that with the club’s awful defense, and there’s a chance Kluber is going to be charged with more earned runs than he deserves.
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For now, though, it looks like Kluber is back on track. While it will be tough for the team to dig themselves out of this hole, Kluber’s turn around is the first sign that things can get better in Cleveland.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
