CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Shane Bieber has heard the whispers his days as a Cleveland Guardian could be numbered but the 2020 Cy young Award winner is unfazed by the speculation.
“I got enough things to worry about on my own,” Bieber said Sunday following another brilliant performance that saw him strike out nine over seven shutout innings in Cleveland’s 5-0 win over the Houston Astros.
“Today was one of the better outings I’ve had up to this point. I’ve been trying to figure some things out, tinkering a little bit both mechanically and just how to attack guys. And I felt like we found some momentum today, and that's what I'm going to focus on is grabbing that and running with it.”
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Although the Guardians offense has shown signs of life since late May, the defending AL Central champions are a disappointing 31-34 and a game and a half behind the 33-33 first place Minnesota Twins as they head west for six games in San Diego and Arizona.
Bieber, who is making just over $10 million this season and has just one arbitration eligible year of club control remaining for 2024, is thought to be a prime trade candidate with no long-term contract in the offing and the organization loaded with inexpensive young arms including Triston McKenzie, Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee and Peyton Battenfield.
The Guardians, who lack consistent power production in their lineup outside of perennial AL MVP candidate Jose Ramirez, are no strangers to trading former Cy Young winners.
The franchise dealt C.C. Sabathia in the final year of his contract to Milwaukee in 2008, Cliff Lee to the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline a year later and Corey Kluber to the Texas Rangers in December 2020.
Bieber could be the chip the Guardians have to play to infuse their lineup with some much needed pop.
Bieber won the American League pitching triple crown in the pandemic shortened 2020 season by leading the league with eight wins in 12 starts, a 1.63 ERA and 122 strikeouts.
With the win Sunday that saw him allow just three hits, Bieber improved to 5-3 and lowered his ERA to 3.29 in 14 starts as he consistently looks for ways to tweak his repertoire.
“I think he’s certainly kind of remade himself and I think he continues to...he sets the bar so high,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “I think sometimes he might be too tough on himself. I think he’s getting to a point though, where he’s comfortable, certainly in his skin and with what he’s pitching with [confidence] and just going out there and competing and he’s not hurt and I think he’s in a pretty good place.”
Bieber doesn’t view reinventing himself as anything out of the ordinary, just part of the job description if he’s to remain one of the tougher arms to face in baseball.
“It’s a hard thing to do to go out there year after year and try and do the same thing and expect the same results,” Bieber said. “The league is very, very good, very strong, very talented, very smart. So you see guys in year two, year three, the league kind of starts to figure them out. I’m only a couple years after that and so there’s multiple transitions of that, if you will.
“So it's important to always continue to adapt and to try to find new ways even throughout a season and from game to game to get guys out. So no, I feel like I’m the same pitcher. I’m just getting better, learning more about myself and continuing to improve.”
That attitude is at the core of what has made Bieber so dominant and Sunday’s outing was a reminder to interested contending teams that the two-time All-Star still has it.
“I have a great internal support system, external support system,” Bieber said regarding the challenge of blocking out trade speculation. “It is my job to be able to block those things out and go out there and ultimately just compete. That’s one thing that I love to do and that’s compete against players around the league and against other teams.”
Whether or not Bieber ends the season in Cleveland or with another contender is out of his control.
“My focus is on my teammates right now and my family and going out there and giving my best each and every day,” Bieber said. “So it hasn’t been that hard. I know it's like, it’s not a great grab of a line, but no, it’s been pretty easy to focus on what's in front of me right now.”