A Life of Knuckleballs

I meant to spend some time writing about how Corey Kluber went from stud in September to flop in October as the Indians lost 3-2 to the Yankees in the ALDS. Just didn’t get a chance to.

I mean, Kluber was lights out in September and surpassed 200 innings in his final start of the year, making it four years in a row that he’d gone 200+ innings for Cleveland. So, Tom Candiotti’s status of being the last Indians pitcher with five consecutive 200-inning seasons with Cleveland will be in jeopardy in 2018.

As a Candiotti fan, I wished Kluber’s two abbreviated outings in the ALDS would have come in September, so he might not have cracked 200 innings for the fourth straight year! But oh well.

And I can also say something about this “advantage” that division winners have. What advantage is it if you win your division and then have to sit for days before the playoffs begin? I don’t think players are used to that since you play every day during the season! I would think it takes some edge off your team if you’re forced to sit for days before starting the postseason – but the wild-card games are for TV, so that’s not going to change.

Oh yeah, I was on TSN1040 on Friday, Oct. 13, to talk baseball with Rob Fai. Here’s the program in its entirety – I came on at the 41-minute mark.