Former Cy Young, All-Star Pitcher Corey Kluber Announces Retirement From Baseball

Corey Kluber, who was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball during his time with the Cleveland Guardians before rounding out his career with the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox, retired at the age of 37 on Friday.

Right-handed pitcher Corey Kluber has retired from baseball, he revealed Friday on social media.

"With sincere appreciation, I am announcing my retirement from Major League Baseball, concluding a remarkable 13-season Major League Baseball journey," Kluber wrote in an Instagram post. "I am deeply grateful for the support of numerous individuals and entities that profoundly influenced my path."

Kluber, now 37 years old, was a three-time All-Star a two-time Cy Young Award winner.

After getting drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2007, Kluber was traded to the then-Cleveland Indians in 2010. He made his big league debut in 2011, and became a staple of Cleveland's starting rotation by 2013.

Kluber was one of the most accomplished pitchers in baseball from 2014 to 2018. In that span, he finished seasons atop the league leaderboards in wins, winning percentage, ERA, WHIP, ERA+, FIP, innings pitched, complete games, shutouts, hits allowed per nine innings, walks allowed per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

On top of winning AL Cy Young in 2014 and 2017, Kluber also placed third for the honor in 2016 and 2018, plus a ninth-place finish in 2015. Kluber had a 2.85 ERA, 1.016 WHIP and 10.1 strikeouts per innings across those five seasons, averaging 17 wins, 246 strikeouts and a 6.4 WAR each year.

Injuries caught up with Kluber as he entered his mid-30s, as he made just seven starts in 2019 and one in 2020, at which point he had been traded to the Texas Rangers. After working his way back up to 16 starts with the New York Yankees in 2021 and 31 with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2022, Kluber once again crumbled in 2022 after joining the Boston Red Sox.

Kluber finished what turned out to be his final MLB season at 3-6 with a 7.04 ERA, 1.636 WHIP and -0.8 WAR. He made nine starts and six relief appearances before getting sent down the minors and falling victim to more injuries.

For his career, Kluber went 116-77 with a 3.44 ERA, 1.129 WHIP, 1,725 strikeouts and a 34.0 WAR. Kluber racked up $85.6 million in career earnings.

As for what's next, Kluber said in his retirement post that he looks forward to passing down his knowledge to the next generation of MLB players.

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