CLEVELAND _ The Indians had Game 5 of the American League Division Series set up just as they wanted, but ace Corey Kluber was struggling with his mechanics, not a back issue as many had assumed.
Kluber was roughed up, allowing two home runs to New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius. It was the second time in the series the Yankees were able to knock around Kluber, who most likely stands as the front-runner to be named the American League Cy Young Award winner.
The Indians pointed to a mechanical issue as the culprit. Specifically, Kluber's arm slot was lower, which in turn made his fastball flatter. It was something the club noticed in Kluber's final regular-season start against the Chicago White Sox. Indians manager Terry Francona acknowledged that Kluber might have been fighting some mechanical things after Game 2. They tried to work it out in a bullpen session and had felt good heading into Game 5.
"In the game against the White Sox, he was getting under balls. And he knew it," Francona said on Friday in an end-of-the-season news conference. "We took him out after the fifth inning. He was kind of joking, he said, 'I don't want to get into some bad habits.' So after that game they went to the bullpen and had a pretty good bullpen session.
"Then Game 2 didn't go very well. When that happens, we all kind of stop and think, 'OK. What's going on here?' But his bullpen was tremendous and he felt good going into the start. His first inning, other than yanking a ball to Didi, he was really pretty good. And then you start noticing in the second he started to creep down a bit. I don't think he even realized it. But we could tell."
Kluber missed roughly a month earlier in the season with lower back tightness. From the time when he returned on June 1 through the end of the regular season, he was the best pitcher in baseball. He hadn't really been hit that hard in a start since returning, and certainly not twice in a row, as was the case in the ALDS. Kluber said in June that he was maintaining the back issue with additional exercises in-between starts.
After the Game 5 loss, which ended the Indians' postseason, Kluber said his back wasn't an issue and later added, "I was healthy enough to go out there and pitch."
As of now, the Indians don't see his ALDS struggles as health related as much as a mechanical issue that arose at the wrong time. It's possible the two were connected in some way, but not necessarily.
"We talk to guys at length, obviously, and for whatever reason his arm slot as he got into the games was kind of getting lower and lower, which meant his fastball was becoming flatter and flatter," Francona said. "The biggest thing I told Klubes before Game 5 was, 'You're our guy, obviously, just want to make sure something is not bothering you or not telling us.' And he said, 'I'm fine.' But we did notice that his stuff was flattening out and in a Game 5 situation, you could only be so patient, so we made a move when we did, but he still says he's fine. Now, everybody gets exit physicals and you go through these guys pretty closely. You know when the season is over (and we) can take a deep breath, we'll see what comes.
