I’ve been thinking about Corey Kluber’s Monday start a lot. It was Kluber at his best, devouring a bereft lineup and making it look easy. It featured a lot of the classics — a hearty dose of the sinker, a bunch of back-braking curves, and of course his cutter now and again. He only threw one four-seamer, which is odd. But it’s his changeup usage that really got my attention.
The changeup has never been a central piece in Kluber’s arsenal. Since hitting the majors as a full-time starter in 2013, the most he’s thrown it is 6.