NEW YORK — So much has been said about Corey Kluber’s even keel, filling in the blanks for a quiet player that the New York media can only access through a computer screen. Even after throwing his first career no-hitter, Kluber was mostly the same person, according to his manager.
“You don’t really see it affect him that much,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Thursday. “He’s easy-going and good-natured and easy to talk to, but you’re not gonna get this outpouring of emotion from him.” That left plenty of space for Kluber’s Yankees teammates to gush about him and soak in the glory of a 27-batter no-no.
“Maybe the coolest thing about last night is how much they enjoyed it for each other,” Boone said. “Corey, seeing how his teammates reacted to him, seeing how excited they were for him, I think that’s one of the biggest takeaways for him.”
A beaming Gleyber Torres said Thursday that the Yankees took full advantage of their vaccinated ability to celebrate together. “It was amazing. Everybody waited for Klu after the no-hitter, he was interviewed on the field,” Torres said. “We grabbed some beers and waited for him. We threw a lot of beers to Klu ... it was amazing. We feel like we won a postseason game. It was great, everybody’s so proud, it was a special night.”
Torres was the shortstop for the no-hitter in his first game back from the COVID-19 list, but the rest of the Yankees who tested positive are still isolating in Tampa. Boone said he was communicating with the quarantined coaches from afar, including pitching coach Matt Blake. “I have a coaches thread text, so just a lot of 'Let’s gooooo!,' Boone said. “At the end of the night, walking into the coaches room and just to see the joy on everyone’s faces and their different emotional experience from the evening was one of the things that was a lot of fun to soak in last night,” Boone said of the coaches that were present.
He also broke some news about the COVID-19 group, which includes Blake, third base coach Phil Nevin and first base coach Reggie Willitts. “We have a couple trickling in, potentially Friday.”
The Yankees who spoke to the media before Thursday afternoon’s game particularly praised his signature pitch, one Kluber says is neither slider nor curveball. Boone said he got a call from his close friend and former Brewers outfielder Geoff Jenkins about the pitch on Thursday morning. “Man, that breaking ball it’s so different, it’s so unique, it’s like a boomerang,” Boone quoted Jenkins as saying.
The manager had his own spin on the pitch.
“When it’s at it’s best, his breaking ball goes forward for a long time, it seems like. And then it just starts, and he gets that tight, hard, late break on it that’s a pretty big break, too. It’s not subtle, but it doesn’t seem like that gradual bead that you would get on a breaking ball that starts out and is kind of breaking the whole way.
“His seems to go forward for a long time, kind of giving the illusion to a hitter that it could be another pitch, then gets significant and late break, and that was evident last night.”
Jordan Montgomery said he watched the game with fellow starter Jameson Taillon, and that he knew Kluber was cooking early. (Boone had said Wednesday that the possibility entered his mind as soon as the first inning.)
“Me and Jameson sat in the same seat since the third inning, didn’t wanna move, didn’t do anything,” Montgomery said. “Don’t say anything about it, trying not to think about it. Once he got through the top of the seventh, we kind of looked at each other and thought ‘man, this might happen.’ ”
Kluber, who is so frequently described as stoic that it’s practically a cliche at this point, did betray his emotions one way after the final out on Wednesday night.
“It was this crazy, euphoric feeling,” catcher Kyle Higashioka said Wednesday. “I mean, he lifted me off the ground pretty hard. I could tell he was pumped.”
