Kluber's focus firmly on 2015
Cy Young Award winner ready to move on toward helping Indians contend this season
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Corey Kluber did not seek the spotlight last year. The spotlight found him after the leader of the Indians' rotation turned in dynamic start after dynamic start, piecing together an historic season that culminated with capturing the American League Cy Young Award.
On the eve of the official start of Spring Training, Kluber is happy to turn the page on last year.
"I'm sure you can imagine that all that attention isn't really my thing," Kluber said on Tuesday morning at the team's Arizona complex.
Cleveland's pitchers and catchers are required to officially report to Goodyear, Ariz., on Wednesday, but Kluber has been in the area for a little more than a week now. After attending Tribe Fest in Cleveland and picking up his Cy Young Award in New York on the weekend of Jan. 24-25, the pitcher was eager to get started on the 2015 campaign.
"After that weekend in Cleveland and New York," said the pitcher, "I just said, 'Hey, that's the last thing that I have that is involved with last year. Let's just move on now and put all our attention towards the upcoming season.'"
The 28-year-old Kluber is not planning any major changes this spring. The right-hander said he will work on his change-up and look into potential alterations to pitch sequencing, but his primary approach will be to tackle issues as they come up throughout the preseason. Kluber also does not feel he needs to change his spring workload much after logging a career-high 235 2/3 innings last year.
Video: Outlook: Kluber comes off Cy Young-winning season
During his Cy Young Award-winning season, Kluber went 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA, striking out 269 batters and walking just 51 in 34 starts for Cleveland. Indians catcher Yan Gomes does not believe that the success experienced by Kluber last season will be a distraction during Kluber's preparation for the season ahead.
"Some guys who win the Cy Young," Gomes said, "the next year they still live on that fame from the year before and they don't focus on the next year. The kind of guy that Corey is, he's going to keep moving forward. And he knows that every year it seems like he's got a lot more on his shoulders. He's got to lead a staff this year. From the experience that we all took from last year, I think it's going to be exciting."