Corey Kluber has pitched eight games in the past two years and he’s one of many starters the Yankees are counting on for bounce-back seasons, with fellow newcomer Jameson Taillon and Luis Severino coming back from their own injuries.
Like anyone who looks at the Yankees starting staff, Kluber knows there will be questions until they show they are healthy – and it can stay that way.
“It’s a rotation like every year,” Kluber said during a Zoom call on Thursday. “In January, February, you can feel as good about it as you want [and] March, but I think it’s all about that process of getting through a spring workout and getting ready for a season and running when you do. And then stay consistent [as a rotation]. “
For that to happen, Kluber and Taillon in particular will have to prove that they can stay on the hill.
The 34-year-old Kluber was sidelined in 2019 by a broken right arm he sustained when he was hit by a comebacker and lasted just one inning last season before a shoulder injury ended his year.
“I consider myself healthy at this point,” said Kluber. ‘I am not rehabilitating anywhere or have a tendency towards problems that stick with something. I am currently in the normal phase of my off season, which is a good feeling: to be out of rehab mode and just getting ready for the season. “
Prior to the last two years, Kluber went on for five seasons in a row, pitching at least 200 innings and having a combined ERA of 2.85. He finished in the top three of the AL Cy Young Award four times, making three consecutive All-Star teams during that period.
The Yankees have invested $ 11 million in Kluber by 2021 in a low season where they have acted with caution, meaning they are confident he can get back into shape. And they should know; Kluber rehabilitated with Eric Cressey, the team’s director of player health and performance, and worked with pitching coach Matt Blake when both were in Cleveland.
“I think that familiarity was definitely a good thing for me,” said Kluber. thought. ”
Kluber believes he can be the pitcher he was before the setbacks and doesn’t think he had to change anything in the aftermath.
“I don’t feel like I’m trying to do anything else because of the injuries,” Kluber said. “I feel like I was in 2019, I got pretty confused with my delivery and stuff and … during that summer I spent a lot of time correcting those issues to where I feel the way I like to feel now. I can go out and throw like I did when I was at my best. ”
That peak was quite high. Kluber helped lead the Indians to three consecutive post-season berths – and he was Cleveland’s ace every year.
He joins a team with a clear No. 1 in Gerrit Cole, but it’s a mystery how the rest of the rotation falls into place.
Kluber is still trying to adjust his mindset to prepare for a full season instead of just getting over an injury.
“It’s a matter of overcoming the mental aspect of it, as opposed to the physical,” Kluber said. “I think what I’m feeling what I’m working on now, as far as I’m getting ready for the season, comes a little bit from the rehab mindset – where you kind of try to work through things or feel things – to get to the point where you trying to run pitches. And hopefully when we get hitters in the box, I’m not worried about a delivery or anything like that. You’re just trying to get away. “