Corey Kluber, American baseball pitcher
Corey Scott Kluber (born April 10, 1986) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. He made his MLB debut in 2011, as a member of the Indians. A power pitcher, Kluber achieves high strikeout rates through a two-seam sinker and a breaking ball that variously resembles a slider and a curveball.
A three-time MLB All-Star, Kluber is a two-time winner of the Cy Young Award in the American League (AL) including in 2014, his second full season in the major leagues, and in 2017. In 2016, he was named the Sporting News AL Starting Pitcher of the Year. He led the major leagues in earned run average (ERA) in 2017, and has twice led the AL in wins. On May 13, 2015, Kluber became one of 20 pitchers in major league history to strike out at least 18 batters in a nine-inning game, doing so versus the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2018, Kluber notched his first 20-win season. On May 19, 2021, Kluber threw a no-hitter against the Rangers.
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Kluber played high school baseball for Coppell High School in Coppell, Texas. He then attended Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, where he was named Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2007, and was inducted into the Stetson Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014. The San Diego Padres selected Kluber in the fourth round of the 2007 draft, and traded him to the Indians in 2010 as part of a three-team transaction. Kluber established himself in the Indians' starting rotation in 2013. He was signed through 2020, with a club option for 2021, after agreeing to a five-year, $38.5 million contract extension with the Indians in April 2015. The Indians traded Kluber to the Rangers in December 2019. He signed with the Yankees in January 2021, and threw the franchise's 12th no-hitter in May.