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Tim Daniels is the featured Columnist for the month of November.
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Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Sunday that the Tampa Bay Rays and starting pitcher Corey Kluber had reached an agreement on a one-year deal.
The New York Yankees had a bounce-back season in 2021. He had a 3.83 ERA and 1.34 WHIP with a lot of strikeouts. His best stretch was in May, when he had a no-hitter and a 2.27 earned run average in five outings.
Injuries have become a major factor for the 35-year-old right-handed pitcher.
He made only one appearance in 2020 because of a shoulder ailment, and he was limited to seven starts in 2019.
He was on the injured list until late August because of a shoulder injury he sustained in May.
"I think it's still something that no player wants to go through, even if you've had some injuries before or not," he said in July. You want to be on the team. You want to be on the field with your team. You want to be competing with your teammates, not watching them.
During his nine-year stay with Cleveland, Kluber was one of the top pitchers in baseball. He won the American League Cy Young Award twice.
In May, he showed that he can still perform at that level. He might have a few more years of productive pitching in his right arm since he's never relied on an overpowering fastball to get hitters out.
Staying healthy will be the most important factor in his effort to put together a late career resurgence.
Expectations should be kept within reason as he arrives to the club, but it's a free-agent signing that adds to the club's rotation depth.
It would provide a major boost to the team if he could start 25 times in 2022.
