DUNEDIN, Florida – Another day, another short outing for a Yankees starter.
Corey Kluber lasted just four innings in Wednesday’s 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays at the TD Ballpark.
He allowed three runs – and two home runs – and needed 77 pitches to get out of the start.
While Kluber and coach Aaron Boone still sounded encouraged by the right-hander’s performance, his early departure forced the Yankees to go to Jonathan Loaisiga to start the fifth and require more length from an already recorded pen.
“I thought his stuff was okay,” Boone said of the 35-year-old Kluber, who signed $ 11 million for a year after losing most of the last two seasons with a fractured forearm and then a tension in the shoulder. “I think he’s still getting closer to where he needs to be.”
He threw only 10¹ / over innings on three outings and walked seven.
Kluber called the exit “a step in the right direction.”
“I’m as frustrated as everyone else with the results on the scoreboard, so to speak, but I can say things are going in the right direction,” Kluber said.
The veteran said his “things are getting better, the location is getting better and the number of failures throughout a game is getting smaller. The mistakes I’m making, I’m paying for them. I don’t expect to get away with it. with them “.
He allowed several baserunners at each entry before being eliminated before the fifth.
“You can only throw as long as you are allowed to,” Kluber said.
When asked if he tried to keep the game going after the quarter, Kluber said, “I don’t think that’s my position. I felt like my job is to throw as much time as possible and when they go to the pen, that’s the end. I don’t think it’s my position to argue. “
More efficiency would help, as a first entry of 23 pitches put Kluber in a bad spot.
“I think Corey, at his best, is movement and precision,” Boone said. “It has to overcome the final hump.”
After the match, the Yankees opted for the reliever Albert Abreu in the alternative position.
“We’re doing well,” Boone said of the pen, pointing to the extra April days that help protect them.
“The whole bullpen has played a role and we’ve trusted guys alike to share the load,” Boone said. “But as you go later in the month, in May and in the summer, you have to rely on the initial pitchers to delve deeper into the games.”
Kluber said he didn’t believe the headlines were pushing to lengthen the rotation, something only Gerrit Cole has provided.
“I don’t sense it,” Kluber said. “Most guys do two laps in the rotation – a couple of guys three [times]. I don’t think there is any feeling of pressure. “