I don’t want to incite a panic, but Corey Kluber did not look healthy on Friday night against the Twins.
Kluber, like all pitchers, occasionally gives up some runs and has some bad games, but Friday was different. Kluber’s fastball maxed out at 91.6 mph, a career low. To put that into context, in his last start against the Tigers, Kluber averaged 92.9 mph and hit a maximum speed of 94.2 mph.
Changes in velocity like that are extremely rare and almost always indicate an injury—especially when the pitcher gets rocked the way Kluber did tonight.
However, it is worth pointing out that there was one other time in Kluber’s career where his fastball velocity dropped by two full mph. In July 2015, against the White Sox, Kluber’s fastball dropped by 2.0 mph (tied with Friday’ night for the biggest drop of his career). He also got rocked that night, giving up five runs in five innings. However, the very next start he came back and tossed a complete game against the Royals.
So there’s hope. Maybe he didn’t get enough sleep, maybe he’s under the weather and maybe this was just a fluke. But no one is going to call you crazy to worry about him until he takes the mound again and we see that’s just fine, because an outing like this is extremely foreboding.
Some other thoughts and notes on the rest of the game…
- Josh Tomlin pitched a solid two shutout innings of relief and now has a 3.12 ERA since losing his spot in the rotation. Most importantly, he’s walked just one batter in 8.2 innings of work. Tomlin is only a viable major league pitcher when he has elite control which, for the first time in his career, he was missing at the beginning of this season. If he’s found it again, he may be able to return to the rotation and provide some stability until Shane Bieber is ready to take over the job on a full time basis.
- Jason Kipnis went 0-3, lowering his average to .197. He’s been one of my favorites since he first got called up in 2011, so it pains me to say this, but he isn’t good enough to be playing every day. Injuries have ruined him and he’s hurting the team. He’s always been a great teammate, so I’m sure he’ll handle a move to the bench with grace, and so it’s time Francona makes that call. Erik Gonzalez needs to play every day, or they need to call up Yandy Diaz (he has a .428 OBP at Columbus) to play third base and move Jose Ramirez to second.