Kluber Becomes 2nd Quickest in Indians History to 500 Strikeouts

Cleveland Indians hurler Corey Kluber became the second-fastest pitcher in club history to reach 500 career strikeouts when he caught Kansas City Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain looking in the sixth inning of Monday's game, per MLB Milestones on Twitter.

Herb Score remains the only player to reach the mark quicker than Kluber, having accomplished the feat in just 68 games back in the 1950s. However, pitch counts were not watched as closely back then, and Score had 27 complete games in his first two seasons.

Unfortunately for Kluber, the strikeout of Cain was the right-hander's last of the night, and he also allowed six runs (four earned) to drop his record to 0-3 in 2015. Following his Cy Young campaign in 2014, it's undoubtedly a disappointing start to the season.

While his ERA has ballooned from 2.44 last season to 4.24 through the first five games of 2015, Kluber is still striking out more than a batter per inning. He's also received some bad luck, as his FIP (fielder independent pitching) sits at an excellent 2.58 compared to 2.35 last season, according to Fangraphs.

The Indians, along with Kluber, entered this season to high expectations, with some experts picking the club as potential World Series candidates. The team has drastically underperformed through the first 20 games, as the Indians enter Thursday with the third-worst record (7-13) in baseball.

If the team wants to be in contention come September, it'll need to start racking up wins quickly, and Kluber is a guy who has shown the ability to do that on the mound, as he finished last season with an American League co-leading 18 wins.