Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes announced on Friday that Corey Kluber is retiring from baseball.
The right-hander played nine seasons of his 13-year MLB career for Cleveland, where he was a three-time All-Star. He also won two Cy Young Awards, becoming the organization’s only winner of the honor.
Kluber spent the last four years of his career with the Rangers, Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox. Kluber had a 7.04 ERA in 15 appearances (nine starts) for Boston in 2023, striking out 42 batters over 55 innings. He began the season in the Red Sox rotation, but eventually moved to the bullpen.
Kluber, 37, played for the Yankees in 2021 and made only 16 starts, missing half of the season due to a shoulder ailment. But Kluber’s stay in New York was highlighted by his no-hitter against the Rangers.
Kluber grappled with arm troubles in the closing years of his career, and in 2023, spent time on the disabled list with right shoulder.
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Former Yankees starter who completed unprecedented feat announces retirement
Corey Kluber, a two-time Cy Young champion, announced his retirement from baseball on his personal Instagram page today. One of the best pitchers of the 2010s, he was the Cleveland Guardians’ formidable ace, amassing over 1,700 strikeouts over 13 seasons, including a stint with the New York Yankees. When the organization signed him to a one-year free agent contract in 2021, they hoped to unleash his Cy Young potential, and despite injuries that ruined his season, he still posted a 3.83 ERA in 16 starts.
His most notable performance came against the Texas Rangers, when he threw a no-hitter, joining only 13 other Yankees in history to do so. Kluber had a tremendous career, and while it ended in a whimper with the Boston Red Sox last season, he produced one of the best pitching seasons we’ve seen in the twenty-first century.
Corey Kluber retires after joining the historic Yankees list.
From 2014 to 2018, Corey Kluber had a 2.85 ERA and won two Cy Young awards with the Cleveland Guardians, striking out 1,228 batters in 1,091.1 innings. Over those five seasons, he led the American League in fWAR with 30.3 and was one of just two pitchers to reach 1,000 innings. He was traded by the Guardians during an injury-plagued 2019 season, landing with the Texas Rangers, whom he no-hit just a year later at their stadium.
Kluber was a stoic pitcher who rarely exhibited emotion, and that poker face gave him an incredible ability to remain calm on the mound even in high-pressure situations. You couldn’t tell if he was pitching a full game or getting blown up based on his facial expressions, which is great praise for any starting pitcher. Following his stint with the Yankees in 2021, he signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays, making 31 starts but posting a 4.34 ERA.
The Boston Red Sox, who were desperate for pitching, also signed Corey Kluber to a one-year contract, expecting that his 3.53 FIP from 2022 would indicate that he still had something left in the tank. Instead, Kluber would endure the worst season of his career, making only 15 appearances and throwing to the tune of a 7.04 ERA. That season would herald the end of a career that had some tremendous highs.
He will be remembered not for the 2023 season, but for a magnificent career that featured an amazing playoff run in 2016 that nearly propelled Cleveland to its first World Series win since 1948. Corey Kluber delivered 34.1 excellent playoff innings with a 1.83 ERA during their World Series run, and he is one of the best pitchers of his generation. The career numbers will not result in a Hall of Fame induction, but he did have a Hall of Fame peak and was a highly respected individual.
Corey Kluber has always been considered as a strong pitching staff leader, and while with the Yankees, he taught Michael King the sweeper that helped him emerge as one of the team’s top pitchers. The impact Kluber had on the Yankees extended beyond his on-field performance, and his heyday will undoubtedly be remembered for years to come.
