Corey Kluber injury update: Indians put ace on DL

Cleveland Indians starter Corey Kluber, the 31-year-old ace of the Cleveland Indians, has been placed on the DL because of back soreness.

Due to the injury, the Indians called up reliever Joseph Colon from Triple-A. Colon has been solid in the minors, as he has a 0.87 ERA in 2017. However, he will in no way be able to replace the production of the former AL Cy Young award winner.

Kluber was forced to exit early in his last start with back tightness, as he was only able to complete three forgetful innings before his injury. Kluber gave up five runs off seven hits while striking out four.

On the year, Kluber has an inflated ERA of 5.06, but that statistic is skewed by a few bad starts. While his ERA is high, Kluber has struck out many and should regain his Cy Young form once he returns from injury.

Kluber established himself as an ace in 2014, when he was well into his 20s. Kluber is a late bloomer who while 31, only has a few elite seasons to his name. He has been a top-tier starter since that season and anchors Cleveland’s solid rotation.

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To further prove his brilliance on the mound, Kluber has a career ERA of 3.40 and 9.5 SO/9. Cleveland should be relatively okay in his absence because of their deep pitching staff that includes Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer, and Josh Tomlin. However, the Indians do need to find a starter for Sundays matchup against the Royals.

If Kluber is forced to miss an extended period of time, Zach Mcallister or Mike Cleavinger are the most realistic candidates to be added to the rotation.

There is no word yet on the severity of the back problem, but back problems, especially with pitchers tend to be troublesome injuries. We will continue to add updates as timetables are announced.