There was a time when this performance would have been recorded as a disappointing start by Corey Kluber.
Now is not the time. And he says about the state of the Yankees that this performance shows encouragement.
Kluber threw four scoreless shots before losing the plate, but it was really the least of the Yankees’ worries on Wednesday night in a 4-1 loss to the Braves. The lack of running support created a zero margin for error – and the 35-year-old Cy Young award winner was wrong when he took three walks in the fifth.
“With the expectations we all have for ourselves, it’s obviously hard to get through that fifth half,” Kluber said. “If you try to look at the whole picture, I think it’s very good in the first four innings.”
On the one hand, Kluber (0-2) showed improvements, allowing two shots and going four in 4 ² / ₃ innings. He failed to get more than 12 starts in any of his first three starts since returning from a shoulder injury, which ended in 2020, and put nine runners on base, twice when he survived four innings.
“I didn’t set an expectation because I had a lot of strangers,” Kluber said. “How frustrated I am with some of the results – free passes and things like that – I honestly feel like I’m moving in the right direction. Things are very close to being where I want to be. I just want to get there a little earlier. ”
This actually had the results of a gem when Kluber withdrew 12 of the first 14 beats he faced, working around a single single-out in the second and a lead walk in the third. Then came the fifth, when 15 of his 29 pitches missed the attacking zone, including 13 of the last 20, when the Braves transformed.
“I wish I had done a better job of making an adjustment in the middle of the half and being able to lock myself in again,” Kluber said. “I have to go back and look at things and see if I can find something to work on in the bullpen and identify what could have gone sideways.”
Kluber was pulled over after Ehire Adrianza broke the deadlock with a sacrifice fly and Freddie Freeman went on four pitches. Nick Nelson came in with a loaded base and went into a second race, which was the kiss of death, with the Yankees not touching starter Ian Anderson.
On the other hand, it would be easier to swallow Kluber’s line as part of the process of rebuilding long-term reliability if it weren’t for starter no. 2 for a team that does not receive length from rotation, clutch blows. from his range or from all the routine games in his defense.
It may be too much, too soon to ask him to go to zero with depths in a game, but payments for a $ 11 million contract are ongoing.
“Being cold and windy is sometimes a little hard to feel,” said manager Aaron Boone. “I thought things were good. He generated a lot of easy contact. He gave us a chance. Obviously, I just didn’t do enough offense. ”