CHICAGO: Few pitchers in baseball history have had an October like the one Indians ace Corey Kluber has put together this postseason.
Kluber has a Cy Young Award to his name already, but his performance through the Indians’ run to the World Series might end up being his defining moment from a national perspective.
In five starts, Kluber has allowed only three earned runs in 30⅓ innings for an ERA of 0.89. Among pitchers with at least 30 innings in a single postseason, that is the second-best mark all-time, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Burt Hooton in 1981. No American League pitcher has been better with that many innings.
Kluber’s 35 strikeouts put him in a tie with Orel Hershiser in 1995 for the Indians’ franchise record for strikeouts in a single postseason and in a tie for ninth overall. And his 15 strikeouts between Games 1 and 4 of the World Series are a franchise record, besting Hershiser’s 13.
Kluber has put himself in rare air and among some of the better names in baseball history while leading the Indians’ beat-up pitching staff through October. The Indians feel it’s time to rank him among baseball’s elite instead of just another ace.
“He hasn’t gotten his due,” Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis said. “He’s won a Cy Young, and he still isn’t necessarily a household name. I don’t think he’s going to have to worry about that anymore. He’s one of the better ones around. … He doesn’t walk people, he competes, he fields his position, keeps his composure, he doesn’t blame anything on his defense. Add that to his repertoire with how nasty he is, he’s exactly what you want out of an ace.”
Two of Kluber’s five postseason starts — Game 4 of the American League Championship Series in Toronto and Game 4 of the World Series — were his first two on short rest in his career. It further elevates the value he’s brought to a team with only three healthy starters from its rotation during the regular season.
“I think he’s certainly showing everybody how good he is,” reliever Andrew Miller said. “He might be a little bit under the radar for some reason, but we’re glad we’ve got him. He’s as good as they come, he’s dominant. To go out and pitch on short rest, I think a lot of people don’t understand how difficult that is, and he acted like it was a regular game.”
Under the weather
Outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall became sick a couple of hours before Sunday’s Game 5, enough that he went back to the team hotel to rest before the game. The Indians gave him fluids just before the game to see if he could become available off the bench.
Chisenhall didn’t end up starting, with left-hander Jon Lester on the mound and the Indians wanting to keep Carlos Santana’s bat in the lineup. Brandon Guyer received the start in right field.
You scream, I scream
Indians manager Terry Francona doesn’t always sleep well in the postseason. So what was he doing at 3:30 in the morning on Sunday?
Try ordering $44 worth of ice cream.
“I had the brownie sundae, I had two orders of chocolate, and two orders of vanilla with chocolate sauce,” he said. “And then to kind of keep it healthy, I ordered the berries. Oh, and a diet Coke.”
And, he did finish it. Talk about overcoming the odds.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ