CLEVELAND _ Indians ace Corey Kluber said he feels the mild quadriceps strain he sustained the last week of the regular season is no longer a problem.
Kluber, Friday night's Game 1 starter in the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, said he was assured it wouldn't be an issue after the second bullpen session leading up to the playoffs.
Indians manager Terry Francona had said Kluber might have some trouble pushing off the rubber in his American League Division Series Game 2 start. Part of that might have been because of a sleeve Kluber wore, which he later took off. Kluber expects to be good to go for Game 1 of the ALCS.
"I was fine after that," Kluber said. "Whether that had an effect on my velocity, I'm not sure. But if I can go out there and give the team seven innings, I'm not really concerned with how hard I'm throwing. ... It was more precautionary than anything. We weren't trying to protect against anything major."
The Indians would gladly take a repeat performance of his Game 2 start, when he tossed seven scoreless innings. But while the results were strong, they didn't quite feature Kluber at his best. Jason Kipnis said he could see things weren't quite all there. Pitching coach Mickey Callaway agreed.
"Sometimes not everybody gets the full story what's going with a guy when he's trying to battle through," Callaway said. "Probably one of the gutsiest performances I've ever seen out of a starting pitcher in any situation."
Kluber could have his hands full, facing the hottest lineup left in the postseason. The Blue Jays have averaged 6.75 runs per game and have hit 10 home runs in four games.
"They have a lot of power, but they're also patient," Kluber said. "You have to go out there and execute pitches. There's not really a magic formula. Just like what we asked about with Boston, it's not a magic formula, they're just a really good offense. We all have our work cut out for us."
