It looks like Corey Kluber has found his place.
The MLB veteran went 4 2/3 scoreless innings with the Rays in his regular season debut on Sunday.
The former Yankee led Tampa Bay to an 8-0 win over the Orioles to win the opening series against the AL East floormats. Kluber wasn’t entirely satisfied with his performance at the weekend, however.
“I didn’t really control the counts the way I would like at the end. But at the end of the day I made good pitches when I had to to keep them off the scoreboard,” he said.
On his 36th pitching birthday, Kluber allowed three hits, walked four and hit five batters over the span of 87 pitches. Kluber started to lose steam in the fifth inning, being pulled out of the game after hitting Cedric Mullins on foot and giving Ryan Mountcastle a single.
Corey Kluber went 4 2/3 innings scoreless. AP
Rays manager Brian Cash stressed that keeping Kluber healthy is his priority. The right-hander was on the injury list for three months last season because of a strain in his right shoulder.
“We want all of our guys to go out and schedule 30 starts. But when you say that, you have to manage the workload,” he said.
“I don’t want to lose any words [Kluber’s] Mouth, but the days of throwing 220 innings are probably gone,” Cash added. “He understands that.”
Kluber spent three months on the injured list during his 2021 season with the Yankees.AP
Kluber echoed the manager’s sentiment and discussed how his focus is on pitching inning after inning.
“I don’t really care about the workload or the number of pitches. My take on it is that I’m going to keep going out there until he takes the ball away from me,” said the 2014 and 2017 Cy Young Award winner. “I’m trying to take it one at a time and not trying to be big consider.”
Initial throwing depth is one of the Yankees’ top concerns for this season. It was almost put to the test after Jordan Montgomery was hit in the left leg by a Xander Bogaerts ground ball on Sunday night. However, Montgomery was able to stay in the game and pitch 3 2/3 innings in the Yankees’ 4-3 loss.
In 2021, Kluber had a 3.83 ERA in his 16 starts with the Yankees and recorded a no-hitter against the Rangers in May. He is currently on a one-year, $8 million contract with Tampa Bay.