Corey Kluber didn’t have his usual command on Tuesday, walking three batters in 3.2 innings after allowing no free passes in his previous six frames, but the veteran still feels he is on an encouraging track to turn in an efficient 2021 season after throwing just one inning last year.
“I feel good,” Kluber said of his outing, which included one unearned run and four strikeouts against the Tigers. “I feel like I’ve gone through a normal progression at this point in terms of building up. I think I obviously would have like to have commanded a little better today, but in terms of physically, the progression and pitch count and all that kind of stuff, we got the work in that we needed to, which was good.”
One area of concern for Kluber could be his velocity, which has been down from his typical career average. Given Kluber’s recent injury history, which has limited him to just 36.2 innings in the past two seasons, many eyes have been watching the radar gun to see if he can get back the stuff that helped him win two Cy Young awards with Cleveland. But Kluber isn’t among those concerned with his current fastball velocity, even if it is noticeably lower than his career average.
“I think looking at it historically, I get a little bit of an uptick as the season goes on,” Kluber said. “I think it’s just part of getting into that groove and pitching every five days...the routine of it, start after start, your body gets used to it, your delivery feels better, things like that.”
Kluber’s fastball has been on a downward trend since 2014, his first Cy Young season, but that never affected his performance. His average fastball velocity in 2014 was 94.3 mph, and by 2016, it was averaging 92.9 mph. He won his second Cy Young in 2017 while averaging 92.7 mph, and averaged an even 92 in the two years that followed.
Kluber was able to remain among the game’s best despite a slower fastball thanks to pinpoint location and elite movement on his breaking ball, and while some may worry how effective his secondary pitches will be if his fastball loses more efficiency, he isn’t ready to declare his current velocity as what to expect as the season evolves.
“I’ve never been a guy who comes out throwing my hardest fresh at the beginning of spring training,” Kluber said. “I know some guys are like that. They kind of plateau, I’m kind of the opposite. I start a little bit lower and climb out there and find that sweet spot. I don’t know what the numbers were [Tuesday], I just know the way the ball feels coming out of my hand.”
In his last full season (2018), Kluber came out averaging 91.7 mph on his fastball in April, per Statcast (he’s averaged roughly 91.5 mph so far this spring, and by July it was up to 92.8. In 2017, his fastball was clocking an average velocity of 92.4 at the start of the season, and that number increased to 93.1 in the final month of the regular season. Kluber will rest on that knowledge instead of worrying if age and recent injuries have taken more life off his heater.
“Even though the delivery was a little off, I felt like it was coming out good and pitches were moving well,” Kluber said. “The velocity numbers don’t really mean a lot to me at this point in time.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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