Cleveland Indians: All eyes upon Corey Kluber as he returns today

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber returns to action this afternoon after making just one start in May due to an injury.

The starting rotation is in the midst of a solid stretch, but Cleveland Indians fans are still waiting to see if Corey Kluber can get back to his ace ways.

Kluber only made one start in May, allowing five runs in three innings on May 2 in what was a short outing due to an injury.

He makes his return today against the Oakland Athletics as the Indians look to take the series from the A’s after winning the first two games.

Kluber’s return is a big deal as the need to open a roster spot led to Danny Salazar heading to the bullpen, while Mike Clevinger remains in the rotation. Salazar wasn’t off to a great start, but Kluber did nothing in his first six starts to warrant the title of “ace”, which is currently held by Carlos Carrasco.

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Kluber’s 5.06 ERA is a bit concerning, although it shot up from 4.19 in that final start where he may have been hurt the whole time. Regardless, he has only had one great start, which was a complete-game shutout against the Chicago White Sox on April 21.

He did follow that up with just three earned runs in seven innings against the Houston Astros, but fans expect more from Kluber based on his reputation.

Perhaps we expect too much after his magic in the 2016 postseason, but he will need to at least be as dominant as he was then for the Indians to actually win it all in 2017.

The turnaround all starts this afternoon, as the new-look rotation with Salazar in the bullpen makes its debut at the start of June.

Fans may be wondering if Kluber could suffer the same fate as Salazar if he struggles and the others succeed, but it would take a truly awful string of outings for that to even be up for consideration. And while Kluber is notoriously a slow starter, he has shown the ability to bounce back as the season progresses.

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So no need to panic just yet, as fans should be excited about Kluber’s return. Well, at least until the game starts.