The Last Indians Ace

We must pause to honor the retired.

Corey Kluber tossed 215 innings for the-then Cleveland Indians in 2018. That led all of baseball, as did his two complete games. He posted ~6 WAR according to the publicly-available metrics.

Did he win a third Cy Young award? No, but he finished third in voting and was an All-Star. It was his last great season. The picture isn’t quite as pretty for Kluber after but no one can predict a line-drive that fractures a throwing arm.

To help us better understand Kluber’s dominance before that moment it helps to look at his entire career. I will attempt to do this by sharing a screenshot of a spreadsheet. How else can you try to step back and identify the “shape” of an entire players career in one go?

There it is. Corey Kluber’s Permanent Record. Go on. Chat with the numbers. Ask them about their families. They’re nice symbols!

Highlights include some snazzy black ink for Baseball Reference WAR in 2014 and 2017. Five-straight seasons with at least 200 innings pitched, culminating in and AL-best 215 in 2018. And it is those seasons specifically that scream off of the page once you take a moment to absorb the spreadsheet.

When you are done making small talk with the numbers please — don’t forget to wave at WAAadj, it’s neat — return to that five-year peak from 2014 to 2018. That is an incredible 32 WAR for an average of 6.4 per season. That is Warren Spahn, Roy Halladay, Bert Blyleven, and Johan Santana territory. Curt Schilling’s five-year peak came out to 35 WAR. Gaylord Perry snuggled up to 37. Welcome to the neighborhood, Mr. Corey Kluber. You are one of the most statistically well-regarded players in history during your prime.

For those five years Cleveland fans enjoyed a genuine Hall-of-Fame right-handed ace on the mound. The eye test agreed and man, so does the video. Just...go watch this. Are you kidding me?

Smoked. They are getting smoked. The last guy is so late. Kluber froze hitters and left them hacking, sometimes falling down. Long home runs get a lot of deserved glory because they’re wonderful to watch and, yes, that sound.

I claim that a pitcher turning All-Stars back to the dugout in embarrassment is just as enjoyable. BOLD AND ITALIC, just like black ink.

Tunneling. Late movement. Bite. Call it what you want — peak Corey Kluber had it most nights.

I enjoy moments like this when the statistics we consume about baseball and the “eye test” and the legends all align: At his best, Corey Kluber was among the best ever.

Maybe his no-hitter with the Yankees before it was all said and done was a way for the Very Real and Ruthless Baseball Gods to make up for that line drive. Kluber never did win a World Series despite one of the best performances in one this century. But, topping off a double Cy Young career with a no-no? I’m guessing that still tastes sweet.

In conclusion, Emmanuel Clase.