For all the talk of juiced baseballs, juiced players and sky-high home run totals, Cleveland Indians starter Corey Kluber spent the month of June frustrating nearly everyone he faced.
The right-handed ace of the Indians reestablished his dominance this month after stumbling his way through April and spending most of May on the disabled list.
Major League Baseball recognized Kluber’s six-start stretch Monday by naming him the American League Pitcher of the Month. The 31-year-old averaged more than seven innings per outing and surrendered just six earned runs and eight total for 1.26 June earned run average.
The award is Kluber’s third (September 2014 and August 2016) and comes a day after he was named to his second straight All-Star Game roster.
Maybe even more impressive than that ERA was Kluber’s 0.67 walks plus hits per inning pitched average. Opposing batters hit just .150 against the righty, he struck out 64 over 43 innings, and only Texas Rangers left fielder Nomar Mazar connected for a home run during the month.
Kluber struck out 10 or more batters in five of his six June starts, topping out with 13 on June 24 against the Minnesota Twins.
Never adverse of pitching deep into games, Kluber delivered his second complete-game shutout of the season June 19 against the Baltimore Orioles and lasted seven and eight innings, respectively, his last two starts. The pair of complete games and shutouts trail Minnesota’s Ervin Santana for the MLB lead.
Adding longevity to Kluber’s starts was command of his stuff. He threw 69.5 percent of his pitches for strikes (421 of 606).
The Indians went 4-2 during Kluber starts in June, five of which coming at Progressive Field, and the pitcher was credited with four wins and no losses.
The stellar month did wonders for Kluber’s previously unpleasant season stats. He entered his June 1 start against the Oakland Athletics with a 5.06 ERA and 1.37 WHIP, and opponents were hitting .262 off him.
Kluber will head to the Progressive Field mound Tuesday for a Fourth of July start against the team that made him a fourth-round draft pick in 2007, the San Diego Padres, sporting much more attractive totals. His ERA is down to 3.02, his WHIP is an elite-level 1.00, and his opponents’ combined batting average is .206.
Because of May’s back ailment, Kluber does not have enough innings pitched to qualify among statistical league leaders. Starting pitchers must have at least one inning pitched per team game. Kluber’s tossed 80 innings and the Indians have played 81 games, as of Monday. If he did qualify, though, he’d rank fourth in the American League in ERA and second in WHIP behind Boston Red Sox lefty Chris Sale.
Kluber’s 105 strikeouts ties him for fifth in the AL with Toronto Blue Jays righty Marco Estrada despite having pitched fewer innings than everyone in the top 20. A strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate of 11.8 trails only Sale (12.4) in the AL.
Eric Horchy is a staff writer with OutsidePitchMLB.com. You can follow and interact with him on Twitter: @EricHorchy
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