FANTASY BASEBALL HITTING UP THE KLUB (COREY KLUBER)
FANTASY BASEBALL
HITTING UP THE KLUB
(COREY KLUBER)
By Muntradamus
BEAST DOME NATION.
Klubot.
A starting pitcher that you know you will get 9+ Ks more often than not, but a pitcher who has all of a sudden become hittable.
When Kluber won the CY young in 2014, a 2.35 ERA and 269Ks came along with it.
2015 we saw a bit of a regress as his ERA jumped to 3.40, the Ks dropped to 245.
2016 the ERA lowered to 3.14, but most important of all. The Ks dropped to 219.
While there is no doubt Kluber is still one of the top Strikeout Pitchers in the American League. We are starting to see a 31 year old pitch for the first time since going hard in the paint all Playoffs. The arm can only take so much mileage, and pitching in the competitive hard hitting American League. You have to be nearly perfect to every batter you face. With the strikeouts going down, that means the contact for hitters is going up. When the heat does not reach the velocity it once did, that is when the batters are in control of Klubot.
So while Kluber will pitch like an ACE at times, he will also have those type of starts that remind you of Wade Miley where he gets rocked for 8 ER in 2 INN. While it was not that bad in 2016 as his ERA was evident at 3.14.
We can start to see the digression for Kluber in 2017. The Fastball is now mid/low 90s, the arm is racking up mileage. Every American League team can hit.
Kluber is currently the #6 pitcher on FantasyPros, expect to see him finish somewhere around the Top 20. There are pitchers who will be feeling fresh pitching in much friendlier situations than Kluber in 2017.