Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber channels inner Rust Cohle (Video)
By Phil Watson
Cleveland Indians right-hander Corey Kluber has at least gotten his name in the discussion for the American League Cy Young award with a breakout season that included an 85-pitch shutout against the Seattle Mariners last month.
Kluber is also a fan of HBO’s “True Detective,” and decided to give the MLB Fan Cave a look at his inner Rust Cohle:
On the mound, Kluber has been phenomenal since surrendering six runs in a loss at Kansas City on June 10.
In 12 starts since that loss, Kluber is 7-2 with a 1.43 ERA and 0.886 WHIP in 88 innings, striking out 93.
He has eight starts in which he’s struck out at least 10 batters this year, five of them in the last two months.
For the season, Kluber is 13-6 with a 2.41 ERA and 1.065 WHIP in 26 starts over 179.1 innings and has 197 strikeouts.
That’s vast progress for a guy who last season posted a 3.85 ERA and 1.262 WHIP in 26 appearances, 24 of them starts, and 147.1 innings.
He’s currently second among AL pitchers with a 5.7 wins above replacement, trailing only Felix Hernandez of the Mariners.
His ERA is third-best in the league, his WHIP ranks eighth and he is tied for second with Hernandez, behind David Price of the Detroit Tigers, in strikeouts.
And for fans who still think wins matter, he’s tied for second in the AL behind Max Scherzer of Detroit.