Two-time Cy Young award-winning starting pitcher Corey Kluber announced his retirement on Instagram on Friday after a stellar 13-year career.
Kluber made the announcement in a post on his Instagram which pictured him pitching in the five jerseys of the teams he has played for: the New York Yankees, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Boston Red Sox, the Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Indians (yes, while he was with them they were indeed the Indians and not the Guardians.)
His post, captioned “It was the honor of my life” highlighted his career accomplishments, which include two Cy Young awards, three All-Star selections, 116 wins and 1,725 strikeouts.
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The 37-year-old had struggled mightily in his final two seasons, putting up a 4.34 earned run average with Tampa and then completely fell apart this last year with the Red Sox, posting a 7.04 ERA before the Sox shut him down for the year with a shoulder injury.
But at his height, he was arguably the most dominant pitcher in the game. His 2014-2018 stretch saw him finish top 10 in Cy Young voting all five years and top three in four of those five. He surpassed 200 strikeouts every one of those years, per Baseball Reference. (RELATED: God’s Favorite Southpaw Hurler Clayton Kershaw Re-Signs With Juggernaut World Series Contender: REPORT)
While injuries ultimately derailed a career that once seemed to be on track for the Hall-of-Fame, his peak stretch will always remind baseball fans of the incredibly talented rotations he shared with the likes of Trevor Bauer, Shane Bieber and others.