Corey Kluber has played eight games in the last two years and is one of the starters the Yankees have to have recovery seasons, with new teammates Jameson Taillon and Luis Severino returning from their own injuries.
Like everyone who looks at the Yankees ’initial staff, Kluber knows there will be questions until they prove they are healthy and can stay that way.
“It’s like any rotation of the year,” Kluber said in a Zoom call Thursday. “You can feel as good as you want in January, February [and] March, but I think it’s a process that involves overcoming a spring workout and getting ready for a season and getting started. And then stay constant [as a rotation]”.
For that to happen, Kluber and Taillon, in particular, will have to prove they can stay on the mound.
Kluber, 34, was sidelined in 2019 for a fractured right arm when he was hit by a ski lift and then lasted just one entry last season before a shoulder injury ended the year.
“Right now I consider myself healthy,” Kluber said. “I am not rehabilitating anything or having any problems that persist with anything. Basically, right now I’m in the normal phase of my low season, which is a good feeling: to be out of rehabilitation mode and try to prepare for the season.
Before the last two years, Kluber did a five-season stretch in which he threw at least 200 innings and had a combined ERA of 2.85. He finished in the top three at the AL Young Young Award by voting four times and formed three consecutive All-Star teams during that period.
The Yankees invested $ 11 million in Kluber for 2021 in a low season in which they have acted cautiously, meaning they are confident he can re-form. And they should know; Kluber rehabilitated with team health and performance director Eric Cressey, and worked with pitching coach Matt Blake when they were both in Cleveland.
“I think familiarity to me was definitely a good thing,” Kluber said. “Going through a couple of different things the last couple of years, having that familiarity with both Eric and Matt is something I had in mind when making that decision.”
Kluber believes he may have been the pitcher he was before the setbacks and doesn’t think he should have altered anything after his consequences.
“I don’t think he’s trying to do anything different because of the injuries,” Kluber said. “I feel like in 2019 I did pretty well with my delivery and all that … during that summer I spent a lot of time correcting those problems where I now feel like I like to feel. I can go out there and throw like I did when it was at the best possible time ”.
That peak was quite high. Kluber helped drive the Indians to three consecutive postseason beds, and was Cleveland’s ace each year.
He will join a team with a clear No. 1 Gerrit Cole, but everyone assumes the rest of the rotation will stay in place.
Kluber is still trying to adjust his mindset to preparing to throw a full season instead of overcoming an injury.
“It’s about overcoming the mental aspect rather than the physical,” Kluber said. “I think what I’m thinking I’m working on right now, in terms of preparing for the season, is getting out of the rehab mentality, where you’re trying to work things out or feel them. Get to the point of trying. run throws. And hopefully when we get to have batsmen in the box, I don’t care about a delivery or anything like that. Just try to get out. “