It’s no secret that Cleveland Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is one of baseball’s best, and manager Terry Francona isn’t shy about saying so.
Francona also isn’t shy about pointing out that the gameplan some hitters might like to use against Kluber is going to backfire if executed.
Francona, on launch angle: "Kluber's throwing down and away. If you're trying to get the ball up in the air, then the next thing you should start thinking about is exit velocity. And that's how fast you're going to leave the batter's box and go back to the dugout."
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 9, 2018
To be honest, Francona’s right. The fact that Kluber keeps the ball down so effectively makes it hard to square him up and hit fly balls. There’s a reason Kluber gets special privileges from his manager.
