Indians name Corey Kluber Opening Day starter for fifth straight year

With five days to go until Opening Day, the Cleveland Indians have finally named a starter for when they take on the Minnesota Twins at 4:10 ET.

Corey Kluber will take the mound for the fifth straight time as the Tribe’s season opener, moving him into a tie with Stan Covaleski for the most consecutive starts in franchise history. He still needs two more starts to pass Feller’s franchise record of seven total Opening Day starts.

Kluber will be followed by Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger, and Shane Bieber for the rotation to start the season, forming arguably the best rotation in all of baseball. Earlier today, manager Terry Francona also made it clear that he wants to keep Bieber, their number five starter, on a consistent rotation to keep him sharpe. and on his routine.

Kluber being named as the Opening Day starter follows an offseason of rumors that ranged anywhere from the Indians were fielding calls for the 32-year-old, to they were on the verge of sending him to some other team. The Indians ultimately held onto Kluber, and now he’ll try to win his third Cy Young in Cleveland.

Assuming Opening Day actually happens as scheduled for the Indians — they play in Minneapolis without a dome, because why would you possible have a dome in Minneapolis? — the matchup will be Kluber facing the Twins’ young star Jose Berrios, which is one hell of a matchup.