CLEVELAND -- Corey Kluber doesn't have a firm timetable for his recovery from the fractured right forearm he suffered after being struck by a line drive last week.
At the very least, however, the Cleveland Indians ace is optimistic that his injury won't bring an end to his 2019 campaign.
"I don't have a plan not to pitch again [this year]," Kluber said at Progressive Field on Tuesday. "Obviously, I don't have a definitive timeline because it's all depending on how things heal. But in my mind, I'm not looking at it as season-ending."
The 33-year-old Kluber had gotten off to a sluggish start to the 2019 season before having it derailed by a line drive hit by Miami Marlins right fielder Brian Anderson last Wednesday. In seven starts, the 2-time American League Cy Young Award winner had amassed a 2-3 record, along with a 5.80 ERA and 38 strikeouts.
Despite being in the midst of a rough patch, Kluber doesn't see his newfound time off as a welcomed break after five straight seasons of 200-plus innings pitched. Rather, the 3-time All-Star would prefer to be able to work through his issues on the mound as opposed to dealing with the most significant injury of his Major League career.
“I think you want to be out there with the team, you want to be contributing," he said. "When it’s your day to pitch, you want to be able to take the ball every fifth day. I don’t think that changes if you think you are or are not pitching well."
While the typically even-keeled Kluber insisted he's not going "stir crazy" yet, he admitted the uncertainty of what's ahead might result in as much. Although he's begun the map out a calendar for the road ahead with the Indians training staff, the reality is that until his broken bone heals, there's no telling how long he'll remain sidelined.
In his absence -- and with Mike Clevinger still recovering from an upper back strain -- Cleveland has found itself patching together what was once considered one of the deepest rotations in baseball.
Kluber, for his part, insists he's confident the Indians' pitching staff -- a staff he believes he'll rejoin by season's end.