NEW YORK — The Mets are doing their due diligence on a former ace’s latest comeback attempt
Free-agent Corey Kluber will throw in front of multiple big league clubs next week, which the Mets will scout according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The three-time All-Star threw just one inning with the Texas Rangers because of a Grade 2 shoulder tear suffered during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. The previous year, Kluber lasted seven miserable starts in his final year with Cleveland.
During his Cleveland heyday, Kluber was among baseball’s elite, winning two American League Cy Young Awards, and finishing in the top 10 in votes each year from 2014 through 2018. He pitched to a 2.85 ERA over that five-season stretch, racking up the third-most strikeouts and second-most innings.
Kluber also had one of the most dominant runs in recent postseason history, going 4-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 2016, carrying a depleted Cleveland pitching staff to the World Series, which they lost to the Cubs in seven games.
Kluber will need to prove his injury woes are fully behind him and that he can still get outs. But if he can, there is no pitching rotation in which he doesn’t fit, including the Mets’ gaunt staff. Right now, Jacob deGrom and Marcus Stroman form a strong 1-2 punch. But after that, the middle and back end of the rotation’s success is dependent on David Peterson building on his 49.2 rookie campaign, Noah Syndergaard’s full recovery from Tommy John surgery, and Seth Lugo making a successful re-conversion to starting pitching.
Though Kluber might be riskier than each of those names, the Mets could use the kind of depth and upside he provides to return to the postseason for the first time in five years.
