It's pretty hard to make Major League Baseball history and it only gets harder to do it when you play for a team like the New York Yankees, a team that has won a record 27 World Series pennants.
Nonetheless, it didn't take long until Corey Kluber wrote his name in Bronx Bombers' history. He hasn't been around for that long, yet you can already tell that he'll be good in Pinstripes for a very long time.
The 2-time Cy Young winner is getting back to his former level, as he showed by throwing the 12th no-hitter in Yankees history - and the first since David Cone in 1999 - vs his former team Texas Rangers.
Kluber Says He's Getting More Comfortable Now
“I think that I’ve probably been getting more and more comfortable with it, as far as throwing the right one when I want to land it for a first strike, throwing the right one when I want to try to get a swing on it, the right one when I want to get to chase on it, that sort of stuff,” Kluber said, as quoted by Lindsey Adler of The Athletic.
Kluber has made a living out of his diverse pitching repertoire. His 2-seam fastball, cutter, and breaking balls often have hitters chasing pitches, and last night was a big example of that, getting 9 Ks and just one walk.
“I think that for the other guys to say how much it meant to them to be a part of it was definitely something that was special to me," Kluber added. "It’ll go down as no-hitter in my name, but you know, obviously it takes the entire team to to accomplish something like that.
David Cone Lauds Kluber After No-Hitter
Needless to say, David Cone chimed in and gave his take on Kluber's majestic performance, claiming that he looked pretty comfortable on the mound and that he's definitely back to his old self:
“The first thing I noticed was the excitement,” Cone said. “It’s like his body language said, ‘Oh, this is nice. I’ve got good stuff here. That’s the life on my pitches I used to have.’ I sensed an excitement from him. He really just kind of got after it and used his pitches like he knew how to do. He’s back. Tonight he was back, and that’s as good as he’s ever been.”
Kluber only threw one inning in 2020 and looked kind of rusty earlier in the season. Now, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about him as he's only getting better in every start, paying back the Yankees' trust in him in the offseason.
