Corey Kluber confident of returning to Yankees starting rotation this season

Corey Kluber’s return to the New York Yankees rotation was questionable after being sidelined in late May due to a shoulder strain, but the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner said Friday that he is ” very sure “that he can return this season.

“[Tengo confianza] the way I’ve felt pitching, the way I’m recovering, the schedule, things like that, “Kluber said before the Yankees’ 6-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. What I see is that I am not really trying to think that I am against a timeline because I think the natural process of rehabilitation will allow it. “

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Kluber made 25 pitches Friday in his first mound session since being placed on the 60-day disabled list, calling it “a good step for Corey.”

In his first outing after his first career no-hitter in May, Kluber was pulled after pitching three innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. An MRI showed a subscapular strain in his right shoulder, leading to his current stint on the disabled list.

Kluber’s shoulder strain required complete rest for at least four weeks, followed by at least four weeks of rehab. And while he will be eligible to leave IL on July 25, Kluber avoided offering a specific schedule for his return.

Kluber described his pitches Friday as “easy fastballs,” adding that “it was nothing like what he would do in a regular bullpen session.”

“I have to sit back and wait for the process to unfold,” he said. “I just found out that it’s easier for me to take it day by day and not get ahead of myself, not look too far ahead. I think that’s probably the best way … It’s about paying attention to how you recover and how you recover. in which you recover when there is a new step along the way “.

The 35-year-old Kluber had recovered from injury to earn his spot as the second starter in New York behind Gerrit Cole. Kluber was 4-2 with a 2.86 ERA and 50 strikeouts before injury.

Also Friday, catcher Gary Sanchez was removed from the game in Boston with what the team described as “mid-back spasms.”

With Cole’s personal wide receiver Kyle Higashioka still on COVID-19 IL, Sánchez caught Cole for the second straight start. The Yankees ace pitched five innings and was marked with his fifth loss of the season after allowing three runs and six hits, including the first of two home runs by Rafael Devers. Cole-Sanchez’s battery held the Red Sox to one run over six innings in the Yankees’ rain-shortened victory at Yankee Stadium last Saturday.

“We’ll see how he responds overnight,” Boone said of Sanchez’s availability for the rest of the series. “He’s there getting treatment now, and we’ll see where we are tomorrow. It’s something that was locked into him and hopefully it will be something short-term.”

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