BOSTON: Despite still dealing with a mild quadriceps strain, Indians ace Corey Kluber looked like his normal self in a 6-0 win over the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.
There were some concerns about Kluber’s strained quad in his first career postseason start, and questions about whether it would affect him into October. Those doubts were mostly put to rest with his seven shutout innings. But he might have had issues pushing off the rubber.
Per BrooksBaseball, Kluber’s fastball velocity was down from 95.5 mph at the end of the regular season to 93.4 in that postseason start. He overcame the difference with command, stifling the Red Sox’s league-best offense. It was in line with his 93.3 average velocity for the 2016 season as a whole, but it was a dip between his last start in Detroit and Friday in Game 2.
“I think probably pushing off a little bit is probably not 100 percent, but I’m not too sure how many guys at this time of year are one way or another,” Indians manager Terry Francona said on Monday. “But, he had so much movement. Fortunately, he kept it in the zone.”
Kluber could still be dealing with the effects of his strained quad. Though it was good news for the Indians that he’s already delivered one stellar postseason outing.
Ramping up
Danny Salazar remains in Arizona working to rehab to the point that he’d be able to return to the Indians in some role, whether it be for a start or, more likely, being available for an inning or two out of the bullpen.
Prior to the ALDS, pitching coach Mickey Callaway noted that Salazar was ditching his breaking ball, his third-best pitch, which he threw only a fraction of the time. Salazar continues to work in Arizona to build up arm strength.
The main priority has been for him to return to 100-percent health, but depending on his progress and how far the Indians advance this postseason, it’s possible he could again pitch this year. Teams can update their active rosters before each series.
“From what I saw, I think he’s still staying away from [his off-speed stuff],” Francona said. “Just fastballs. But there’s no problem there. I think he’s stayed away from changeups, breaking balls so far. Just trying to make sure he gets to the end of his arm strength and then start doing the other things.
“What we said about Danny was not massaged. We really want to get him feeling 100 percent, and then when he gets to the end we’ll figure it out if it goes somewhere or not.”
ALCS tickets
Tickets for any potential American League Championship Series games at Progressive Field go on sale on Tuesday at 10 a.m. According to the team, there will be a “very limited” number of tickets available.
Tickets will be available online only at indians.com/postseason. Any payments for unplayed games will be refunded. Ticket fees are nonrefundable.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ