Cleveland Indians: Missed month enhances Corey Kluber’s Cy Young chances

Cleveland Indians fans are witnessing a special season from Corey Kluber, and one that should result in him winning his second Cy Young Award.

It is almost hard to think back to the beginning of the year, before the Cleveland Indians were on their historic run.

It was a time filled with questions, and one of the main ones surrounded Corey Kluber. He missed nearly the entire month of May, leaving the team without its ace. Missing a month usually excludes a pitcher from Cy Young consideration, but not when the pitcher comes back and puts up insane numbers.

Kluber’s main competition for the award is Chris Sale. In fact, the race is realistically down to just the two pitchers.

Sale has made 28 starts this season, while Kluber has made 25. In those starts some key stats include:

Sale: 189.2 IP, 270 K, 2.85 ERA, .94 WHIP, 1 CG, 0 Shutouts

Kluber: 175.2 IP, 235 K, 2.56 ERA, .88 WHIP, 4 CG, 2 Shoutouts

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Indians fans get to witness Kluber strike out opposing batters at will, but his K/9 is 12.04 while Sale’s is 12.81. This is not where he stands out.

What stands out is the fact he has put up similar numbers after missing an entire month, and after struggling at the start of the year. He has set several franchise records and has only logged less than six innings twice since June 1.

His four complete games and two shutouts also stand out above Sale, while his batting average against is at .191 compared to Sale’s mark of .201.

Indians fans are inherently and rightfully biased when it comes to this Cy Young debate, but Sale’s recent stretch of bad play compared to Kluber’s dominance helps sway even an objective judge.

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Recency bias shouldn’t overtake the conversation, but this is the most important time of the season. And if Kluber and Sale have similar numbers but Kluber missed an entire month and is performing better in September, he should be the favorite for the award.