Cleveland Guardians ace starting pitcher Shane Bieber will likely return in the Guardians rotation next season. He is a free agent for the first time in his MLB career. Teams like the San Diego Padres have already been rumored to be eyeing the AL 2020 Cy Young Award winner. The 29-year-old’s 2024 season was impacted by an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery, placing him on the 60-day injured list on April 6th.
Guardians say mutual interest in Shane Bieber returning existshttps://t.co/iRgLnxzMiy
— The News-Herald (@newsheraldinoh) October 27, 2024
Guardians All-Star Pitcher In Talks Of Returning Next Season
Bieber’s Impact For 2025
But the Guardians don’t want their two-time All-Star (2019, 2021), Triple Crown winner (2020), All-Star Game MVP (2020), and Gold Glove winner (2022) to get away. Marking many of his achievements in the 2020 season. Before his elbow injury sidelined his season, he had a 2-0 record with 20 strikeouts and 0 ERA across 12 innings pitched. A career 62-32 record with a 3.22 ERA and 958 strikeouts. Bieber has spent seven seasons as well as his whole MLB career with the Guardians.
Drafted by the formerly known as ‘Cleveland Indians’ in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft. In 2019, Bieber also reached the milestone of recording 200 strikeouts in his career. He’s carried forth a highly successful career over his belt where the Guardians’ top necessity should be resigning him. Bieber’s ability to rack up the strikeout count has always been intriguing to watch. In 2021, he went 20 straight games, recording eight or more strikeouts.
.@ShaneBieber19 extends his @MLB record to 20 straight games with 8+ Ks. pic.twitter.com/vytRSAXYmU
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) May 12, 2021
Bieber’s Time Has Arrived
The Guardians have already expressed interest in having Bieber come back while he continues to rehab his elbow. But the Guardians understand that Bieber is a free agent. Overall, it is an option for him if he wants to explore that root. Without hesitation, the Guardians will want to do what it takes to keep hold of their star-starting pitcher. While one pitcher cannot salvage an entire lineup, Bieber would have been a huge assistance in the postseason for the Guardians this season. The bullpen being overworked due to a lack of starting pitching depth led to an early postseason exit for the Guardians. Allowing Bieber to showcase his talent for the Guardians if he can remain healthy for the 2025 season would be exciting to see from the former Cy Young winner.
Main Photo Credits: David Dermer-Imagn Images
