Indians pencil Kluber in for 4th straight Opening Day start

It was inevitable.

Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona confirmed Friday that ace right-hander Corey Kluber will get the ball on Opening Day against the Seattle Mariners on March 29.

The announcement was not a surprise to reporters and presumably wasn't surprising to the Klubot himself.

"I think he knows," Francona said to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.

Kluber won his second AL Cy Young award in 2017 thanks to an 18-4 record with a 2.25 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 265 strikeouts in 203 2/3 innings. He put together a steady run to kick off the season, good enough to pitch in the All-Star Game for the second straight year, but it was the second half that propelled him to another level of success.

Over his final 15 starts, Kluber went 11-1 with a 1.79 ERA and 0.77 WHIP. In short: he was nearly unhittable.