Did the Cleveland Indians know exactly what they were getting when the shipped veteran right-hander, Jake Westbrook in a three-team trade for prospect, Corey Kluber? The 27-year was a September call up in 2011. Replacing an injured Josh Tomlin, Kluber has solidified the fifth spot in the Tribe’s starting rotation.
In his last five starts, Kluber has been off the charts with an ERA of 1.79. The thing Tribe fans love about Kluber is his David Copperfield-like ability to get out of huge jams. With the bases loaded late in yesterday’s game against the Washington Nationals, Kluber kept his composure and got out of a bases loaded with no one out situation in the seventh inning. The home crowd of more than 30,000 erupted as the Kluber maintained a 1-0 lead to end the inning.
The Alabama native has been so good, he’s has dropped his ERA over two runs in the last month. Kluber’s ERA now stands at 3.58. He is as hot as any pitcher in baseball. Kluber has allowed just one run in the past 16 innings pitched. With a fastball and swooping slider, Kluber’s forte is command. In 65 1/3 innings of work, Kluber has walked just 12 batters. If he qualified with enough innings, Kluber would rank in the top five for strikeouts to walks ratio with 5.42 in the American League.
The Tribe’s starter grabbed his fifth victory of the year in yesterday’s shutout of the Nationals. Kluber was also named co-AL player of the week with teammate, Jason Kipnis earlier today. The Indians also took the series 2-1 over a tough National League opponent. The Kansas City Royals are on deck tonight for the Tribe who looks to get back over the .500 mark. The Royals are just a half game behind the Indians in the AL Central.
Ryan Ruiz – The Inscriber: Digital Magazine Cleveland Sports Writer
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