One dark horse for the Boston Red Sox in the 2023 MLB season
When you hear the term “dark horse” you may think of someone who will fly under the radar coming into the season or maybe someone that could have a significant impact while coming off the bench. As for the Boston Red Sox in 2023, that player could be a veteran who has had success in the Majors.
In fact, you might not think of this 2-time Cy Young award winner as a dark horse.
That player is Corey Kluber, who is coming off a season with the Tampa Bay Rays in which he posted a 10-10 record with a 4.34 ERA.
Why Corey Kluber is the dark horse pick for the Boston Red Sox in 2023
The 2-time Cy Young winner and 3-time All-Star isn’t quite what he used to be when he was with Cleveland back in his prime, but it’s fair to say that the veteran pitcher still has some juice left in the tank.
Kluber has made three starts this spring so far, recording a 1-1 record and a 2.35 ERA.
In his first start of the Spring against the Miami Marlins back in February, Kluber went for 2.0 innings and allowed only two hits and struck out one batter.
Then, just a few days later the veteran pitcher squared off against the Miami Marlins again, this time for 2.2 innings and striking out three more batters. He did however, struggle with his command of the ball a little bit, walking two batter this time around.
Want your voice heard? Join the Chowder And Champions team!
In his third start of Spring Training yesterday, Kluber took on Toronto where his velo looked down, but he told NESN during their game broadcast that he felt he was commanding the ball better.
Now, it’s hard to judge pitchers in Spring Training outings because most of the time they aren’t pitching their best stuff, but rather, they’re just going through the motions getting the mechanics back and trying to find a good rhythm for the regular season.
Last season, Kluber went 164.0 innings which would have been second most in the injury riddled Boston Red Sox rotation. His velocity was down for sure, ranking in the second percentile for fastball velocity, but he was still getting the best of most batters, ranking in the 75th percentile for hard hit percentage.
dark. Next. Red Sox Nation: Don’t let Bobby Dalbec’s hot spring fool you
Obviously, I’m cherry picking some of his advanced analytical statistics, but that’s because he’s a “darkhorse” candidate. I’m not expecting him to win another Cy Young or even CPOTY (that’s for Chris Sale).
But if Kluber can paint the corners of the strike zone a little better while keeping the walk rate where it is (99th percentile) as well as eat innings for Boston, he could provide the much needed veteran depth in that bullpen the Boston Red Sox were looking for in Rich Hill.