From the start of his outing yesterday against the Toronto Blue Jays, it was evident that New York Yankees’ pitcher Corey Kluber wasn’t quite as dominant as last week, when he threw a no-hit, no-run. He just wasn’t able to get loose in warmups or on the mound.
As a result, he allowed a couple of runs, walked a bunch of hitters, and ended up departing his start after just 58 pitches. Moments later, his injury was deemed as right shoulder tightness.
Eager to calm down Yankees fans that are already fearing the worst, Kluber told the team official site that the injury doesn’t resemble the pain he felt after tearing a major muscle in the back of his right shoulder last season. His exit is seen as more of a precautionary one.
“As soon as I got the arm going, it felt kind of heavy, not painful or anything,” Kluber said. “I tried to throw a few innings in hopes that the adrenaline would get it going. I just wasn’t quite able to. I felt like it was compromising my quality of pitches, combined with trying to be smart and not risk injuring something else.”
The Yankees will send him for an MRI
The Yankees will send Kluber for tests on Wednesday, including an MRI they hope shows nothing structural.
Last season, when he was with the Texas Rangers, Kluber only threw one inning because of a Grade 2 tear of the teres major muscle in his right shoulder.
“Last year, it was more localized to one specific area,” Kluber said. “This just kind of feels more in general to me. I can’t really pinpoint one area where anything was painful or anything like that. I felt like I had trouble getting it going, a fatigued feeling.”
“In the second and third innings, his stuff deteriorated a little bit and I could tell he was struggling through something,” catcher Kyle Higashioka said. “I won’t lie, it had me rattled a little bit when he came out. For the next couple of innings, I was kind of thinking, ‘Well, I hope he’s OK.'”
The MRI will allow the Yankees to have a better idea of how much time Kluber is going to miss. Expect the team to recall Deivi Garcia to take his rotation spot in the meantime.