Corey Kluber made his Rangers debut this afternoon, but it turned out to be an abbreviated one: Kluber exited his start after just one inning and 18 pitches. Rangers Executive VP of Communications John Blake later revealed that Kluber’s premature departure was due to “tightness in the back of his right shoulder.” He’ll be evaluated further on Monday.
Needless to say, we’ll have to wait at least a day for a more detailed evaluation of Kluber’s shoulder, but it’s troubling to see Kluber’s first appearance with his new team cut short. Without a doubt, it’s frustrating for Kluber, who was in need of a fresh start after last year.
Kluber’s Rangers debut was much anticipated not only because of the new threads he’d be wearing, but also because an injury-riddled 2019 campaign limited the two-time Cy Young Award winner to just 7 starts. A forearm fracture and an oblique injury meant that Kluber didn’t get a chance to improve on the lackluster numbers he put up in those 7 games, so Rangers fans had their fingers crossed that it’d be a smooth debut for their big offseason acquisition.
Today marked Kluber’s first time on a Major League mound since May 1 of last year, but it looks like he’ll have to wait even longer to make a real mark on a game. It’s unknown if the tightness in Kluber’s shoulder had been present at any point in training prior to today’s game. Of course, we hope there’s no significant injury here and that Kluber can return to the mound for the Rangers in short order
batflip5311
Tough luck for the Rangers. He can’t seem to stay healthy.
Captain-Judge99
It seems like the Indians knew he was still hurt. So excellent call trading Kluber to the Rangers by Cleveland. The Tribe is a for sure playoff team this season. So there was no reason to keep Kluber.
CowboysoldierFTW
If they intentionally lied and traded a hurt player then they are a crooked organization.
Captain-Judge99
Cleveland Indians 2020 World Champions!!!
Mrivers
NO.
tribepride17
It’s possible. Great defense and pitching.
Captain-Judge99
Only the Astros & the Red Sox cheat. Everyone knows that. At least they don’t have to give their championships back. Why not cheat then?
AHH-Rox
I still can’t believe the Padres got away with such a light slap on the wrist.
MikeEmbletonSmellsBad
@ahh more like I can’t believe the Red Sox and Marlins got away with such a light slap on the wrist! Every player involved in those trades that got hurt was traded to the Padres, not by them!
Elite-Finnish
Clubs have full access to medical records and perform check-ups before every trade. I don’t know how you can call them crooked lol. Unless you’re a ranger’s fan who’s just mad
tribepride17
We aren’t happy either! Clase is suspended all year and Deshields has Covid. Lose lose so far.
hockeyjohn
Teams get medicals and do physicals or a trade does not go through. Kluber had pitched well during summer camp so it is not the fault of the Indians. Cegmyster likes to make trouble and agitate others to annoy them. He often adds very little facts in his discussion. Just learn to ignore him.
Captain-Judge99
hockeyjohn congratulations you traded an injured player. The Indians are good at something else besides losing. Why even mention me? It doesn’t seem like YOUR ignoring me? Good luck with that. I wish you my best.
CKinSTL
@cegmyster serious question.. how much time do you spend being an internet troll? I’m guessing it is a lot. 8 hours a day?
hockeyjohn
Don’t worry CK, once middle school starts back up, Cegmyster can start working on his homework again. Of course, he will probably spend more time in detention as well.
Captain-Judge99
1948… hockeyjohn why don’t choose a different team to root for? How old were you last time the Indians won? We’re you still in diapers? lol
scnye1
Don’t be a moron… Professional sports teams do thorough & extensive research on medical & physical records. To even suggest the Indians knew of any potential injury is ludicrous and shows your incompetence of the given subject.
alpha-17
It’s still possible that a team may know there’s an I jury and not tell a team. The same thing happened last season with the twins and the giants, when the giants traded Sam Dyson. They had to investigate it if somehow the giants knew there was an Injury.
usafaaron
The same logic would apply to the rangers organization if they dealt Clase knowing the guy was juicing…
tribepride17
Give me a break, he was healthy. Tribe didn’t get much for him because his durability was questionable at best but he didn’t have any current injuries.
Captain-Judge99
Ok. He is Conveniently injured now though
tribepride17
Yes he is. Sorry, but your team traded for a pitcher who was having a tough time staying healthy and showed early signs of decline. Not the Indians fault in anyway.
Captain-Judge99
tribepride17 you sure your not an Indian fan?
tribepride17
Your team got a two time Cy Young award winner for a defensive replacement and a juicer who is suspended all season and you’re the one complaining? Obviously if Kluber didn’t have injury concerns the Indians would have received a haul. The rangers rolled the dice and so far it doesn’t look good but we still don’t know the extent of Kluber’s injury.
Pork Chop Pough
Sure, he had no shoulder injury, passed the Rangers physical eight months ago and made it through their spring and summer training healthy, but the Indians knew this was going to happen. Maybe the Rangers traded Clase because they knew he was taking steroids. Heck, maybe they dealt DeShields because they knew he was going to get COVID-19.
gasman1022
You do realize that both guys the tribe got arent even playing….one Texas traded a roid guy whos out for 80 games and the other is hurt
jimthegoat
The guy the Indians “gifted” to Texas?
Captain-Judge99
It was the “injured gift“
The Human Rain Delay
Yo Ceg-
How ironic is it that the player (Rp) Texas traded also got inj (before Klub)
Captain-Judge99
Basically one teams crap for another’s
Geno55
In the Kluber Trade the Indians didn’t get much in return
mlbnyyfan
No wonder Cleveland got rid of him for a lesser package. They unloaded him the first offer they got. Originally thought it was a great move by Texas but not under these circumstances
Polish Hammer
They unloaded him because they had no intention of picking up his option and keeping him. It was either let him walk or pick up the option and trade him for a couple of players. That he was dealt many months ago, passed physicals and has already worked out and pitch for the Rangers yet today tweets something and all of the fantasy baseball GMs are up in arms about the Indians knowingly dumping a hurt player is absolutely idiot. Do you guys also take your 10 year old car with 150000 miles on it back to the dealer to see if they’ll cover something just outside of the warranty? SMH…
hockeyjohn
The Texas offer was not the only one that the Indians received, but the others either wanted the Indians to take back equal salary or take an all prospect package. Cleveland wanted help for their major league roster so they chose the Texas offer. They hope that Clase would add to this year’s bullpen as a high velocity set up guy. The deal may still work out as the Indians still have 6 years of control on Clase.
Geno55
That’s a big if the word is May work out
hockeyjohn
Aren’t all trades a big if, Geno?
SDCOOK
I believe he passed the Ranger’s physical. Wishing him the best of luck. Prayers for a speedy recovery.
njbirdsfan
Texas does little well, and medical/physicals are no exception apparently.
hockeyjohn
Can we stop with the nonsense. Kluber pitched in spring training and summer camp with no issues. Texas took a chance acquiring an older pitcher and injuries are part of that risk.
sufferforsnakes
Probably caused by those hideous uniforms.
toooldtocare
I’m a Rangers fan and I don’t believe the Indians would knowingly pawn off an injured player. Just hope it’s not a rotator cuff.
Captain-Judge99
Hey, I wish the Rangers my absolute best with this injured player
tribepride17
I’m an Indians fan and hope Kluber finishes second behind Bieber for Cy Young. Hopefully this is just precautionary.
Captain-Judge99
Maybe the Tribe can trade for Justin Verlander now?
jrussell92024
They should be able to reverse this trade then…see Colin Rea….
Captain-Judge99
Too late now. A great job by the Tribe.
lowtalker1
That’s like saying the padres could reverse the trey turner trade bc myers went to the dl
tribepride17
It hasn’t exactly been a win for the Tribe yet either.
toooldtocare
Slightly off topic, but Gallo launched a 437’ third deck HR at a exit velocity of 109 Mph. Ranger announcer said that it had a 97% chance to be a hit. It what ballpark would a 437’ not be a hit? Dont know how that stat is calculated.
Dotnet22
Could have gone 437 feet foul I guess.
Dotnet22
Or it could have gone 437 feet strait up and been a pop up.
jonnyzuck
if what he said is accurate then the 3% could come from a place where the ball doesn’t fly as well as it does in Texas so it might only travel like 400 and it could be a fly out. It could have been a mistake though so I don’t know
Old User Name
The Polo Grounds.
toooldtocare
That’s a good one! Willie Mays would have made an over the shoulder catch.
Captain-Judge99
Game plan: Never ever hit the ball towards Willie Mays in centerfield
lowtalker1
You have to hit over him
Captain-Judge99
That would definitely be a homerun ball if it’s over him. lol
windmill_noise_causes_cancer
437’ is a pop fly to shallow center at Comerica.
/s
Captain-Judge99
It’s definitely not as bad as what the Astros & Red Sox did. It happens all the time.
VegasSDfan
Back of the shoulder doesn’t sound as serious.
Thank god the Padres missed out on him
Captain-Judge99
Yes, Friars did something right for a change. Please tell me about this C.J Abrams kid. The next Ozzie Albies?
Ashtem
What an ignorant comment but i don’t expect anything less from Cegmyster
Captain-Judge99
Ignorant how? Please explain Red Eye. Have your feelings been hurt again? Are you going to cry? Is Red Eye a condition?
metsie1
Guy is always injured. Tough break for the Rangers. Worse yet, I have him on my fantasy team.
Captain-Judge99
When in doubt trade him to hockeyjohn. Oh that’s right he’s injured and the Tribe knew about it already. I guess hockeyjohn will pass?
flmetfan
For Sale: pitching machine….
bravesfan
Welp… all these big time aces / former aces going down… what’s going on? Hamels, Kluber, Verlander … gosh.
The Human Rain Delay
I love how nobody mentioned Clase going down in this trade as well (he was the headliner )
basquiat
Tito burned him out. All you had to do was look at how many innings he pitched and how many pitches he threw over the past few years. The torque on his arm was severe to make his pitches break like they did. Not a mystery that he broke down.
lfrient1
Wishing the very best to Kluber.
My comment about this trade and any trade for that matter: You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away, and know when to run!
Polish Hammer
Or just know when to look into that magic ball and see the future…
lfrient1
The Cleveland baseball team executives are usually very good at knowing what to do and when to do it.
oscar gamble
Corey is a good man, a hard worker and a fantastic teammate. I hope this isn’t a serious injury!