MLB early May injury update: 4 teams take big hits in first week

The Cleveland Indians’ ace Corey Kluber has also been place on the disabled list after not being able to get through more than two innings of his start Tuesday night due to a back injury.

The 2014 AL Cy Young winner has been dealing with back issues for a while now and simply couldn’t pitch through them anymore on Tuesday.

"“It has been bothering me off and on for a few starts now, but this was the first time I couldn’t pitch through it,” Kluber said. “You have to balance trying to keep going against causing more damage.”"

Kluber has been placed on the 10-day disabled list and Indians skipper Terry Francona told ESPN that the best case scenario would be that Kluber will only miss his next start. However, it appears he will miss more time than that.

Kluber hasn’t had the best year so far in 2017, posting a 5.06 ERA through six starts. However, this back issue can likely be at least partially attributed to the 249.1 innings he pitched last season and in the postseason as he led the Indians to the World Series.

The Indians are currently tied for first place in the AL Central with the Minnesota Twins.

As long as Kluber is not out for months the team will probably be just fine. They still have guys like Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Josh Tomlin in their rotation.

Last season they had to do without Carrasco and Salazar and still won the American League Pennant. It’s a setback for the Tribe, no doubt, but hopefully for Cleveland it isn’t one that they can’t overcome.