Bob Feller is the greatest and its not even close, but that was almost 100 years ago.
And before you look up the stats, remember feller lost almost 4 full years to WW2
Feller was amazing, and I still have him as the #1 Indian of all time.
Was just a different brand of ball back then though too. He started pitching in the era where the power hitting brand of ball started coming around full force. However, there were still a lot of poor hitters around back then and there was no designated hitter, so Feller was facing a pitcher once every nine or so hitters, which is a luxury Kluber doesn't have.
Another thing to remember back then is that guys routinely made 40-45+ starts per year and easily cleared 300 innings which of course would add to their counting stats a lot.
Feller pitched 296 or more innings five times in his career, and capped out at 377 in 1946, a year where he racked up 348 strikeouts at a rate of 8.4 SO/9IP. Feller also started 36 or more games six times throughout his career and made 30 or more starts ten times.
Kluber has never pitched more than 236 innings in his career, and has also never made 35 starts. Before citing health on that point, he started 34 games in 2014 which tied him for the league lead. It was easy for Feller (and other guys like Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson) to amass those crazy career totals in some areas because those guys pitched way more innings and way more often than pitchers today.
Bob Feller's career SO/W is 1.46.
Corey Kluber's career SO/W is 5.09. Extremely sizeable difference here. Feller was unbelievably wild.
Bob Feller is 5th all times in total walks issued to batters, despite being only 49th all time in total innings pitched. That's not exactly something to write home about.
What about strikeouts? Feller retired with 2581 career strikeouts, which is a great accomplishment, as he is remembered as being a super power pitcher. Kluber is very close to passing 1300 career strikeouts, which is pretty far off of what Feller amassed in his career.
But lets dive into that a bit deeper here. Bob Feller amassed an insane amount of strikeouts because he pitched a crazy amount of innings in his career. Feller's career SO/9IP is a lowly 6.1. That's the same career SO/9IP as... Josh Tomlin.
Here are some Indians' pitchers SO/IP this season:
Mike Clevinger - 7.4 (career 9.0)
Trevor Bauer - 11.2 (career 8.9)
Carlos Carrasco - 8.6 (career 8.9)
Corey Kluber - 10.4 (career 9.9)
If you want to say that those are cherrypicked stats because those numbers feature Feller's entire career including his decline years while those guys are young or in their prime, then okay, here's a few veteran or recently retired pitchers for comparison:
C.C. Sabathia - 7.7
Cliff Lee - 7.6
Adam Wainwright - 7.5
Some of this has to do with today's MLB being a lot more swing and miss than Feller's era, but some of it also has to do with the fact that Feller just wasn't the crazy efficient strikeout guy that a lot of people pencil him in as. Did he strike out a lot of guys? Of course. Was some of that because he pitched an insane amount of innings? Definitely.
Some say Feller was more efficient and precise. Couldn't be farther from the truth.
Bob Feller's WHIP in his best season was 1.13.
Corey Kluber's career WHIP is 1.06. Feller's best year isn't on par with Kluber's averages throughout his career, again, because Feller was an incredibly wild pitcher who led the league in walks given up four times.
Bob Feller's career BB/9IP was 4.1.
Corey Kluber's
worst ever BB/9IP (not counting his rookie year where he pitched 4.1 innings) is 2.6. Kluber's stuff is infinitely more controlled and just as nasty.
Did I post that huge wall to rip on Bob Feller? Of course not. Dude is a Cleveland icon that'll be remembered another 100 years from now as one of the greatest athletes that Cleveland has ever seen.
Is he the best pitcher in Indians history right now? Again, yes.
Does Kluber have a chance to eclipse him?
Definitely.
