MLB Power Rankings: Top 25 players in the game today

17. Corey Kluber

Two AL Cy Young awards and a third place finish thrown in for good measure over the last four seasons is more than enough for Cleveland Indians starter Corey Kluber to make his way onto this list. The right-hander, who did not stick in the big leagues until his age-27 season, is 65-39 with a 2.79 ERA since 2014 and has topped 200 innings in three straight seasons. His dominance has also carried over to the postseason, where he nearly led the Indians to the World Series title in 2016.

Kluber is coming off the best year of his career, one where he led the major leagues in ERA, wins, WHIP, ERA+ and SO/BB. He went 18-4 with a 2.25 ERA and struck out a career-high 11.7 per nine. Kluber’s previous high for strikeout rate was 10.3 per nine, and he had averaged 9.6 per nine for the previous four seasons.

April had typically been a more challenging month for Kluber — perhaps the colder temperatures in the month made it difficult to grip his famous curveball — but he is off to a flying start in 2018. In his first six starts, the two-time Cy Young has a 2.18 ERA over 45.1 innings and has allowed only 26 hits.

If Kluber is dominating in April, that could make things even more difficult for hitters in the second half, where he has always been at his best. Kluber gets better as the season goes on, and has a career ERA of 2.82 in the second half (1.79 in 15 starts after the break last year). If only the San Diego Padres had known what they were giving up when they included the right-hander in a three-way trade for Ryan Ludwick in 2010.