Corey Kluber was shelled once again in tonight’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals. The former two-time Cy Young winner has been less than impressive to watch in his eight starts in a Red Sox uniform. Over his 34.1 innings pitched, Kluber has posted a 6.41 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP with 33 strikeouts. He also has a 6.38 FIP with a measly 73 ERA+. While the Red Sox offense has been fun to watch all season, the starting pitching has sometimes made it hard for the lineup to keep it a close game. And Kluber has been one of the main suspects.
Corey Kluber was brought on board as a pitcher who can limit baserunners and can give consistent innings throughout the year. However, in his eight starts on the season, his control has been shaky more often than not, and limiting the home run has not been a success. After allowing two home runs in tonight’s game against St. Louis, Kluber has tied his career high in consecutive starts with a home run given up.
Kluber signed a one-year, $10M contract with Boston over the winter after the Red Sox failed to bulk up their rotation. This decision has shown to be detrimental as the rotation has clearly been the biggest weakness of this roster. The offense has been more than delightful to watch, consistently putting up strong numbers on the board each night. However, 14 of the Red Sox wins have been after the rotation gave up the lead early in the game.
Possible DFA Candidates Could Include Corey Kluber.
With James Paxton back in the rotation and Garret Whitlock due to return soon from the IL, there are going to be moves made. Nick Pivetta is already seen as a worthy candidate to be sent to the bullpen. But there is more cause day after day to remove Kluber from the rotation, as well. He was brought onto this already feeble rotation to eat innings and throw strikes. However, after a month, it’s becoming evident that he is not able to do either.
The five man rotation is something that Alex Cora has mentioned will be coming soon. With the return of James Paxton and soon Garrett Whitlock and Kutter Crawford, it leaves two odd men out. Paxton was very impressive in his Red Sox debut on Friday, and Whitlock has shown he has the ingredients to become an effective starter. It wouldn’t be crazy to think the Red Sox could DFA Kluber and eat the rest of his contract when these moves need to be made. DFA’ing Kluber would not be a huge hit on the payroll as it’s only $10M. Along with this, he’s also becoming a replacement level player in each start. If the Red Sox find themselves in the wild card race come the trade deadline, there could be some moves. These moves could be the ones necessary for bolstering this rotation.
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