Corey Kluber can do a lot of things on a baseball field, but he can't beat the rain. He actually wasn't lined up to start on Wednesday - that honor belonged to Trevor Bauer. When the Cleveland Indians had their series finale against the Boston Red Sox rained out, however, it created some confusion about the rotation going forward. Indians beat reporter Jordan Bastian took to Twitter to clarify the next two day's starters.
Setting the Cleveland rotation
Bastian reports that Kluber will be taking the mound on Thursday. His last start - against the Chicago White Sox - wasn't great.
He struck out 12 batters, but gave up four earned runs and didn't factor into the eventual Indians victory. That being said, he is coming off arguably the greatest month of his entire career, spinning a 14.7 K/9 rate and making a legitimate challenge to Boston's Chris Sale in the AL Cy Young race.
Indians will start Kluber on Thursday and Bauer on Friday vs. Yankees. TBD after that.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) August 3, 2017
Bauer is affected more by Wednesday's postponement, which will be made up in two weeks. He'll now line up to pitch on Friday, which will mark eight days since his last start. His most recent start, against the Los Angeles Angels, may have actually been his best of the season, twirling eight innings of one-run ball.
That momentum could be stuffed by the long layoff, though. After that, it's likely that Danny Salazar (whose start has been skipped) and either Mike Clevenger or Carlos Carrasco will close out the Indians' four-game set for with the new york yankees.
Kluber won't be main attraction
First pitch for Thursday's game with the Yankees will be at 7:10 PM ET, when Kluber will likely mow down the first three batters he faces.
Nobody will bat an eye - or pay attention. Instead, people will skip the Cleveland pitches and tune in during the bottom of the frame, when a certain Yankees starter makes their first appearance for the team. That's right: it's the debut of former Oakland Athletics ace Sonny Gray.
Gray has already faced the Indians twice this season.
On May 30, he struggled, putting together one of his worst starts of the season. He has up seven earned runs and nine hits in less than five innings of work, earning a loss with Bauer on the opposing mound. Gray exacted his revenge on July 14, however, surrendering just two hits in six innings of work and earning a shutout victory. Kluber will look to settle the rubber match between the pitcher and his team at the start of one of the most important matchups of the month.
