Red Sox Pitcher Corey Kluber Shut Down After Rehab Assignment

The Boston Red Sox will have to wait a bit longer for the return of right-handed pitcher Corey Kluber, who hit a detour amid his current recovery process.

Kluber most recently made a rehab start wit Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday, tossing two innings while allowing three earned runs off three hits, including a home run. That rough go in the farm system was followed by a discouraging development in the 37-year-old’s battle to return from the injured list.

Boston shut down Kluber from all baseball activities prior to Saturday’s game with the Giants in San Francisco, according to Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe.

Initially, Kluber landed on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation after surrendering four earned runs through three innings of work against the Minnesota Twins on June 21. That capped off a brutal month of June for the two-time Cy Young Award winner as Kluber notched a 9.45 ERA in 13 1/3 innings while opponents batted .377, tagging him for 14 earned runs — also hitting six homers.

It’s unknown what this means for Kluber moving forward as the regular season winds down for Boston.

The struggles, most notably with the long ball, have been ongoing for Kluber. He’s gone 3-6 with a 7.04 ERA, only reaching six innings once this season. That’s forced the Red Sox to navigate through tricky waters with fellow starters Chris Sale, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock also injured.

Kluber will be a free agent at the end of the season.