Corey Kluber’s first outing with the Yankees did not last as long as he had hoped, but the veteran right-hand man had to be happy with what he showed in pinstripes in his debut.
Kluber worked out of a couple of jams in The Bronx on Saturday in a 5-3 win over the Blue Jays and looked in control most of the day. He allowed only one earnings on five hits in four overs. He hit five and walked three and left after handing over a home run to start the fifth inning.
For Kluber, it was another step back after missing all but one as a member of the Rangers last year.
“It was nice to get out there again and get a chance to compete with the boys,” Kluber said. “I think all in all I made a pitch when I needed it.”
The two-time Cy Young winner threw 74 places in his first start since July last year. Kluber kept the Blue Jays scoreless in the first two innings. He loses his command a bit in the third and walks two batsmen and throws a wild pitch. One of the batsmen, Danny Jansen, hit on a throwing error by catcher Gary Sanchez after Kluber hit Cavan Biggio. Kluber then beat Bo Bichette to end the innings.
Toronto loaded the dogs in fourth place before Kluber got Jansen to get the ground short and short of the innings.
“I thought Corey threw the ball well,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. ‘He had the first few innings there pretty easily and then had to expand himself a bit and had that little piece there where he lost the zone a bit. Just the movement on his stands, the ability to move in and out, I think was really good.
“I thought it was a good move for him.”
Marcus Semien hosted Kluber to start the fifth inning and Boone pulled him. He led the game with the Yankees 3-2, but made no decision after hitting just four overs.
For Kluber, it was just a victory to just be on the hill after a torn muscle in his right shoulder was limited to 18 stands last season with the Rangers. He has thrown just 36 hours / innings in the past two years, and he started with Cleveland only seven times in 2019 while dealing with forearm and oblique injuries.
“You spend a lot of time training yourself, whether it’s not with the team when they’re on their way or coming in early and doing things before all the guys are there,” said Kluber, who signed a $ 11 million one-year deal. , signed. the Yankees deal, he said. “You miss the team aspect of it.”