Stoic veteran vying for second AL Cy Young

Corey Kluber picked up his 18th win of the season on Sept. 24 in Seattle. As the ace of the Indians’ starting rotation, he’ll be leading the pitching staff into the postseason. David S. Glasier has the story.

The Indians head into the 2017 playoffs with arguably the best starting pitcher in the American League in Corey Kluber.

Kluber is 18-4 with a 2.27 ERA after the latest in a string of dominant starts.

Against the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 24, in the finale of a six-game road series, the 31-year-old righthander gave up two runs, both unearned, on six hits. He finished with 10 strikeouts and yielded only two walks. It was the 15th time this season Kluber has posted 10 or more strikeouts in a game.

Kluber is tied with Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most wins in baseball and is only a tick behind the L.A. standout southpaw’s major-league low 2.21 ERA.

If numbers and overall performance tip the scales, Kluber would appear to be in prime position this season to win his second AL Cy Young Award, given annually to the pitcher judged to be the best in the league by a panel of voters. He took home that hardware in 2014, finishing 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA.

The Indians have Kluber as the ace of what the numbers say is the deepest, best starting staff in the American

or National leagues.

No. 2 starter Carlos Carrasco is 17-6 with a 3.43 ERA. No. 3 starter Trevor Bauer is 16-9 with a 4.28 ERA. Those are careerhigh victory totals in both cases.

Mike Clevinger started the season with Triple-A Columbus and was promoted on May 7, shortly after Kluber went on the disabled list with lower back soreness. The 26-year-old right-hander pitched his way into the rotation as the No. 4 starter, going 11-5 with a 3.13 ERA.

Indians manager Terry

Francona already has announced Clevinger will start the playoffs in the bullpen. Francona will go with No. 5 starter, proven veteran Josh Tomlin, as his fourth starter in the playoffs. Tomlin is 9-9 with a 4.98 ERA.

When the Indians set franchise and AL records with 22 straight wins in late August and September, the starters were 19-0 with a 1.77 ERA. Kluber, Bauer and Clevinger each had four victories. Carrasco had three.

This situation stands in stark contrast to the one

Francona confronted last October, when late-season injuries to Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar drastically reduced Francona’s playoff rotation options to Kluber, Tomlin and Bauer — before Bauer mangled his finger in a drone mishap before the AL Championship series against Toronto.

The Indians nearly turned that mess into a miracle, advancing to the 10th inning of Game 7 of the World Series before falling to the Chicago Cubs. They did that with Kluber and Tomlin pitching heroically while Francona artfully manipulated a cadre of relief pitchers who helped shut down Boston and Toronto in the AL playoffs. The bullpen again did yeoman’s work against the Cubs until the magic ran out in Game 7.

Again in this postseason, Kluber will be counted on to set the tone for the pitching-rich Indians in what they hope will be a successful quest for the franchise’s first World Series title since 1948.

With a 15-2 record and 1.62 ERA since he came off the disabled list on June 1, Kluber would appear to be up to that challenge.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber, right, and catcher Yan Gomes celebrate a 2-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers earlier this month in Cleveland.