Yankees Hoping Corey Kluber Can Build Up, Make an Impact Down the Stretch

Kluber has not pitched since May 25. He returns to face the Angels on Monday night.

Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Corey Kluber will take a major league mound for the first time since May 25 when the Yankees visit the Angels on Monday night.

Kluber missed the last three months after suffering a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder. He is expected to throw about 65-75 pitches against the Halos. The plan is for Andrew Heaney to piggyback the start.

Kluber only made two rehab starts after his lengthy layoff. Both were for Double-A Somerset. The right-hander threw a total of five innings and 105 pitches while allowing seven hits, seven earned runs, five walks and three hit by pitches. Kluber struck out five.

Those numbers are reminiscent of Kluber’s initial outings with New York. A notoriously slow starter each year and coming off two other injury-ruined seasons, the 35-year-old was inefficient through his first four games as a Yankee. However, the $11 million free agent signing settled in nicely after that, recording a 1.78 ERA over his last five full starts before the injury. His last full days’ worth of work was a no-hitter against the Rangers on May 19.

Now the Yankees and Kluber are hoping that he follows a similar pattern after two minor league tune-ups.

“The health side of it, with the way I’ve felt bouncing back, the way I’ve felt while I’m out there, all that stuff puts your mind at ease that the injury isn’t an issue anymore,’’ Kluber said when asked what about his rehab encouraged him. “Then going out there and executing pitches to different parts of the strike zone the way you want.

“Everybody would like perfect results every time out, but you have to have perspective and realize that that’s probably not the goal.”

The Yankees could have given Kluber another rehab start or two, but activating him now allows the pitcher to re-wet his feet in the majors with the stretch run here and the postseason looming. He will get a chance to build up as he goes.

In the meantime, the Yankees gain depth and the ability to experiment with other pitchers in different roles. Heaney, for example, could be a swingman for New York over the final month of the season. A traditional starter, he is expected to follow Kluber on Monday and could find himself fulfilling such duties again and/or making spot starts the next few weeks. The Yankees have an upcoming stretch of 20 games in as many days, and Aaron Boone said that a sixth starter could be needed once or twice.

As for Heaney’s relief work, the Yankees learned last postseason that it’s best for a longtime starter to feel comfortable in a new role. They have time to get Heaney acclimated with Kluber around.

Luis Gil, after several impressive major league starts, was intentionally used out of the bullpen at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday, an indication that the Yankees are prepping him for a similar role if promoted again. Gil allowed three earned runs over 4.2 innings. He walked two and struck out seven. Luis Severino and Domingo Germán, currently injured, could also give the Yankees depth and flexibility if they return before season’s end.

Kluber also has time to reacquaint himself and tinker despite what Boone called a “pretty conservative” rehab. The manager likes where the veteran is at, stating “The shapes are there. The crispness of his stuff is there.”

Now Kluber just needs to log some work against big league hitters – with pivotal games on the horizon.

“He gets a lot of movement on his pitches,’’ Boone said. “That’s been there. Now it’s just a matter of getting up against major league competition and continuing to build that workload back up and those pitches back up. Hopefully he can really impact us down the stretch.”

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