As recently as 2018, Sunday’s outing from Corey Kluber would have been no surprise.
8 innings, no runs, and 10 strikeouts against one walk was a nearly routine outing for the righthander in his prime, when he won two Cy Young awards, and finished in the top 10 in voting for five consecutive years.
But none of that is guaranteed these days.
Return of the Kluber
Kluber threw just 36 & 2/3 innings over the past two seasons combined. But, when he took the mound against the Tigers on Sunday afternoon, he looked like the Kluber that baseball fans saw from 2014 to 2018. And he did so just when the Yankees needed it.
While the Bombers’ offense was held stagnant, Kluber cruised through 8 dominant innings. The 2-0 win allowed the Yankees to get back to .500 on the season, and complete a sweep of Detroit.
Kluber was able to dominate mainly due to his changeup. The pitch looked as good as it has in years, and he struck out seven batters with the pitch (a career high). He also recorded single-game career highs in changeups thrown, and swings & misses.
“That’s as good a changeup as he’s flashed, and he had it all game,” Aaron Boone said after the game.
The Long, Winding Road
Kluber knew that it wouldn’t be an easy path back. He also knew that getting back to his ace form would be no easy task.
“I tried to be realistic about it, that it probably wasn’t going to be flip a switch and feel like I like to feel out there, that I’m accustomed to feeling out there,” Kluber said. He also said that he’s felt more and more comfortable the further the season goes.
His outing helped continue a good stretch for the Yankees. After a 3-game sweep of Detroit, the Bombers are now 9-4 in their last 13 games.
The Old Kluber?
In 6 starts with the Yankees, Kluber now has a 3.03 ERA (129 ERA+). He has allowed just one run across 14 & 2/3 innings in his past two starts.
Should Yankee fans really expect Kluber to finish the season with an ERA around 3? Most likely not. Kluber has an xERA of 3.94, and he’s been hit a bit harder than his ERA suggests. His hard-hit rate this year is 35.4%, which would be the highest figure in a full season across his career. However, it’s not much higher than his 34.3% hard-hit rate in 2018, when he finished with a 2.89 ERA (3.05 xERA).
And let’s not act like 3.94 would be a bad real ERA, either. Yes, Kluber was one of the best pitchers in baseball as recently as three years ago. Despite that, he’s now 35 years old, and coming off two seasons where he started just 8 games combined.
The Yankees signed Kluber to a 1-year deal worth $11 million this offseason. They didn’t sign him with the expectation that he would contend for the Cy Young again. They signed him in hopes he could be a reliable arm in the rotation.
So far this year? He has. And that’s all the Yankees can ask for.