For the second time in his last three starts, Corey Kluber got rocked, which raises further questions about his health.
On June 15 against the Twins, Kluber was pulled after just 65 pitches. On Tuesday night, he lasted just 48 pitches and was yanked in the second inning after giving up six runs, as the Tribe would eventually fall 11-2 in St. Louis.
The final blow to Kluber’s night was a three-run homer to Jose Martinez, son of former Indian Carlos Martinez (of the Jose Canseco homer off the head fame).
In Kluber’s previous two starts his velocity was down, but it actually rose back to normal levels on Tuesday. This could be a good sign, and maybe this was just an off night. Or, maybe he was trying something different to up his velocity, which ended up having unintended consequences in other areas.
If this were an isolated bad start, I’d call it bad luck. His whiff rate (25.0%) was right in line with his season average (24.5%). And his chase rate (40.0%) looked great compared to his averages (32.5%). Same goes for his strike rate (64.6% versus 67.5%).
But the fact that he got roughed up so soon after that outing against the Twins, makes me wonder if there’s something else going on.
The Indians refused to admit that Kluber was hurt at the end of last season, even when every statistic at our disposal proved he wasn’t himself and, of course, during the offseason they finally acknowledged that maybe he wasn’t quite right.
After the Twins loss, the team insisted he was fine, and after shutting down the White Sox in his next outing, it looked like maybe they were telling the truth. But that was the White Sox, and it’s entirely possible that Kluber at 75% was still able to get through that Triple-A lineup.
If he’s hurt, even if it’s something he wants to pitch through, it’s time to shut him down. It’s only June and the division race is already over. Giving Kluber some time off to get right could end up benefiting him in the long run, as he will hopefully need to pitch deep into October.
Other thoughts and notes…
- Josh Tomlin tossed three shutout innings in relief. In 12 appearances out of the bullpen he has a 1.84 ERA this season. He was clearly dealing with some command issues (at least by his standards) early this season, but he appears to be back on track. If Kluber does need a DL trip, Tomlin looks ready to eat up some innings for a few starts.
- Lonnie Chisenhall went 2-4 and leads the team with a .333 batting average since returning from the DL on June 5. He quietly put up huge numbers (.881 OPS) when healthy in 2017, and it looks like he may be picking up where he left off. He’s only 25 games into his season, so we’ll see where it goes, but if he can stay healthy and produce, it would be a significant boost to the Tribe lineup.