Be patient as Shane Bieber returns to ace status
Drew Silva details how Cleveland Guardians SP Shane Bieber is slowly returning to form as a top-tier fantasy option for managers.
Video Transcript
DREW SILVA: It's true that Shane Bieber has lost some velocity to that shoulder strain that washed out his second half last year. But he has managed to avoid the injured list so far in 2022 and is steadily working toward the form of the ace who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2020.
Well, that level of form is a lot to ask and we might never see his K per 9 spike above 14 ever again, but he does still possess elite command and can use that command to miss bats when he needs to. Since a rough outing against the vaunted Blue Jays offense on May 7, Bieber has posted a 2.18 ERA with 55 strikeouts and only nine walks in 45 and 1/3 innings.
His season ERA is down to 3.00 as of June 19, and it could drop into the 2's before the all-star break. He already has two starts of more than nine strikeouts this month, giving him 33 career games of 9 plus strikeouts for his career. That is the second most in Cleveland baseball history, behind only Herb Score with 38, and ahead of Bob Feller who had 25.
Hopefully, you didn't sell low early on. Bieber isn't all the way back, but he's getting there.
