One of the most unfortunate aspects of the Indians’ mediocre season is this: They are wasting one of the great pitching seasons in recent Indians history.
Corey Kluber has a 2.77 ERA. Since the advent of division play in 1969, only three other Indians starting pitchers have had lower ERAs than that for a full season – and two of them won the Cy Young Award.
In his Cy Young-winning 1972 season, Gaylord Perry had a 1.92 ERA. In 2008, Cliff Lee won the Cy Young Award with a 2.54 ERA. Perry also had a 2.51 ERA in 1974 and Dennis Eckersley had a 2.60 ERA in 1975.
That’s it. Those are the only full-season ERAs by an Indians starter since 1969 that are lower than Kluber’s current mark of 2.77.
Consider, also, the following: according to FanGraphs. Kluber has a higher pitcher’s WAR (4.3) than Yu Darvish (3.8), Clayton Kershaw (3.7), David Price (3.4), Adam Wainwright (3.3), Max Scherzer (3.3) and Manahiro Tanaka (3.1).
And Kluber is getting even better, not wearing down, as the season progresses. You thought his May was great? When in six starts he was 4-0 with a 2.07 ERA and opponents hit .217 against him?
In four starts in July, he is 3-0 with a 1.97 ERA, and opposing teams are batting .184 against him. Kluber’s WHIP in May: 0.977. His WHIP in July: 0.781.
His record overall is 10-6, but he could easily be 13-3 or even 15-3. In three of his losses, the Indians were shut out (twice) or scored one run (once). One of his no decisions was by a score of 4-3, a game in which he pitched into the eighth inning and allowed two runs. In another no decision, he pitched eight innings, struck out 13, walked two, gave up one earned run, allowed just three hits – but the bullpen blew the lead in the ninth inning and the Indians lost, 4-3.
In still another no decision, he pitched seven innings, striking out eight and allowing three runs. The Indians won 5-4, but they didn’t take the lead until Kluber was out of the game.
Then there was the Kansas City Abomination on July 24, when Kluber became the first Indians pitcher in 33 years – since Len Barker did it in his perfect game in 1981 – to pitch 6 1/3 perfect innings, only to have to settle for still another no decision.
In that game, which the Royals eventually won, 2-1, in 14 innings, Kluber pitched nine innings without giving up an earned run, allowing just two hits, striking out 10 and not walking a batter.
Yet, not only didn’t Kluber win the game – he almost lost it. Only an RBI single by Yan Gomes with two outs in the ninth inning allowed Kluber to avoid the loss.
Kluber, according to ESPN Stats, joined the Mets’ Matt Harvey (2013), the Rangers’ Cliff Lee (2010) and the A’s Mark Mulder (2002) as the only pitchers in the last 20 years to pitch nine innings, allow no earned runs, with 10 strikeouts, no walks – and get no decision.
As pointed out by ESPN stats, Kansas City’s hitters strike out at a lower rate than any team in the majors, but Kluber has had 10 or more strikeouts in three of his four starts against the Royals this season. No other pitcher in the majors has fanned the Royals 10 times this year even once.
‘Pick any adjective you want,’ Indians manager Terry Francona told reporters after the game. ‘We’ve seen a lot of him being really good this season, but that was pretty dominating stuff.’
One of the keys to Kluber’s success is he constantly pitches ahead in the count, and when he gets ahead in the count, the at-bat is essentially over. When facing Kluber, opposing batters are hitting .109 in 0-2 counts, .104 in 1-2 counts and .127 in 2-2 counts.
If you’re hoping he will run out of gas and you will get to him late – forget about it. In the eighth and ninth innings, opposing batters are hitting .188 against him.
Kluber will get some Cy Young votes at the end of the year, but he won’t win the award because he’s pitching for a team that seems destined to finish around .500.
He has basically been a one-man rotation. Kluber is 10-6 with a 2.77 ERA. All the Indians’ other starters combined are 18-32, with a 4.92 ERA.
Kluber is the No. 1 starter Justin Masterson was supposed to be this season. He’s the No. 1 starter who is pitching like the No. 1 starter on a division-winning team – which the Indians won’t be because their starting rotation consists of a No. 1 starter and four No. 5s.
