CHICAGO -- Thanks to a suffocating performance from Josh Tomlin and three of the best the Cleveland bullpen has to offer, the Indians have a 2-1 lead over the Cubs in the best-of-seven 2016 World Series. That of course means the Indians are two wins from their first belt and title since 1948 and likewise two wins from extending the Cubs' legendary famine to 108 years.
Tasked with advancing the Cleveland cause is ace Corey Kluber, who dominated the Cubs in the series opener. The remainder of the Indians' rotation is of course in a battered state right now, which is why Kluber will be going on just three-days' rest in Game 4. That sets him up to go again in a potential Game 7, again on short rest. If vintage Kluber can again dampen one of baseball's best offenses on what figures to be a windy night in Wrigley, then this series may not reach that seventh game. Kluber, though, will need to overcome the starting pitcher's zealous attachment to routine.
Yes, when a pitcher goes on short rest it's mostly about fatigue and the less than crisp stuff that can be a consequence of that. It can also be about the compromised routine. Kluber, though, takes the simplistic approach. "It's just basically doing the same stuff in one less day," the right-hander said on Friday. "The sides are a little shorter and things like that, but still able to get in the things I need to get in in between. I don't really feel like the last time I did it made a big difference in the way I felt the day I pitched."
That "last time" was in fact the only time. Kluber's never made a regular start on fewer that four days of rest. His start on three days' rest in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Blue Jays remains the only short-rest start of his career. He was good in that outing -- two runs on four hits in five innings of work, seven strikeouts against two walks. What's encouraging is that in that start in Toronto, his velocity was even better than it was during his World Series Game 1 mastery of the Cubs.
What's also encouraging is that Kluber was coming off a 100-pitch outing before his short-rest start against the Jays. In Game 1 against Chicago, however, he threw just 88 pitches total and just 36 pitches over his final three innings. Also bear in mind that this will be Kluber's fifth start in the last 32 days. That the Indians wrapped up the AL Central relatively early allowed manager Terry Francona to ease off toward the end of the regular season. Cleveland also went 7-1 through the ALCS, so Kluber made a total of just three starts through the first two rounds of the postseason. So maybe there's less hangover than you might think. Furthermore, Kluber will take the mound knowing that Andrew Miller and Cody Allen threw just 17 and 18 pitches, respectively, in Game 3. He doesn't have to do it all.
Also, Kluber learned something from that first and only short-rest start. "I think that I kind of had to feel my way through it when I pitched on short rest against Toronto the days in between to kind of figure out what would work for me," Kluber said before Game 3. "I think what we did worked well. Like I said, I felt like I was good physically when we went out there and stuff. So just kind of try to stick with that same plan this time, and it wasn't all that different from what I would normally do."
Had Kluber gone out against Toronto on short rest and flopped, he'd be questioning that adjusted routine. He'd probably be wondering what he should tweak or scale back headed into the biggest start of his life on Saturday night on the North Side of Chicago. Instead, he feels he knows what works. He believes it's a simple adjustment. So far, it has been, even if "so far" entails only one instance.
He's a deep-repertoire pitcher with outstanding stuff. That permits some in-game experimenting if, say, Kluber's two-seamer isn't quite as dynamic as it was on Game 1. If one pitch isn't responding as hoped, he has others. He'll adjust. Kluber's done this before, you know.
