‘That’s a pretty big milestone:’ Rays’ Corey Kluber reaches 10-year service mark
ST. PETERSBURG — Kevin Cash’s tenure as the Cleveland bullpen coach in 2013 and 2014 coincided with Corey Kluber’s first two seasons as a full-time starter. Those were the early stages of a pitching career that reached the 10-year service mark Wednesday.
Cash watched Kluber compile his first 10-win season, then tie for the AL lead in victories, while claiming the 2014 AL Cy Young Award.
Eight years later, Cash gathered his Rays players in the clubhouse for a video honoring Kluber’s decade-long accomplishment. Few major-leaguers reach that threshold, and Kluber — on his third team in three years after Cleveland traded him to Texas — said there’s “definitely an amount of good fortune and luck” that lead to career longevity in the majors.
“I think when you get to the big leagues, you hope to just survive day to day, and then you get to a point where you get the success that he has,” Cash said. “And that’s a pretty big milestone.”
Kluber, who threw six innings and picked up the win Tuesday, made his MLB debut in 2011 and holds a 3.22 ERA across his career. He has thrown 18 complete games, which ranks fourth among active pitchers.
“I’d like to think I’m a little bit more intelligent out there now than I was then,” Kluber said. “Probably don’t necessarily have the tools at my disposal that I had then, but I think that what I do have now I’m able to use more advantageously.”
Josh Fleming to miss 3-6 weeks
Pitcher Josh Fleming will miss three to six weeks because of a “Grade 1, borderline Grade 2″ oblique strain sustained Monday. Fleming said it’s a best-case scenario because he avoided muscle tears, but he can’t throw for about two-and-a-half weeks.
“I hate going on the (injured list) — it’s one thing that I absolutely hate doing,” Fleming said.
He felt the initial tug after his first warmup pitch of the fourth inning. It initially seemed like a cramp — striking Fleming as odd because he doesn’t put much effort into warmup pitches, he said. The same tug continued throughout the frame, and his MRI Tuesday confirmed the injury.
Rasmussen looking for consistency against Red Sox
Drew Rasmussen’s six strikeouts against the Reds were his most since May 25, but he still needed 84 pitches to record 12 outs. He attributed that shorter start to a lack of efficiency and Cincinnati’s ability to foul off pitches and extend at-bats. Cash said that’s happened multiple times this season to Rasmussen, who will start Thursday’s series finale against the Red Sox.
“When it takes you six, seven, eight pitches to get a strikeout, is it even worth the reward when you know you can only get four innings worth of depth?” Rasmussen said.
Miscellany
Brandon Lowe went 0-for-4 with a strikeout while playing second base for Triple-A Durham on Wednesday night; he is scheduled to DH Thursday before being reevaluated, with a potential return to this Rays this weekend. … Pete Fairbanks threw a scoreless inning for the Bulls in his first of back-to-back appearances … X-rays for Boston second baseman Trevor Story (right hand) and reliever Matt Strahm (left wrist) came back negative. Both were hit by balls during Tuesday’s game. ... The defeat dropped the Red Sox to 3-12 in their last 15 games at Tropicana Field, and Tampa Bay has won six of the last seven regular-season series (with the seventh a split) against them ... Longtime Bucs defensive coordinator, and current Ole Miss analyst, Monte Kiffin was at Wednesday’s game.
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