Guardians ace Shane Bieber needs season-ending surgery in major rotation loss
After his first 19 starts last season, right elbow inflammation prevented Guardians ace Shane Bieber from starting again until September — condensing his campaign and only allowing for two more outings after he returned.
But in 2024, Bieber’s season will end after just two promising appearances.
The team announced Saturday that Bieber, 28, will undergo a reconstruction of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow after experiencing “medial right elbow pain” following his outings against the A’s and Mariners.
“Given the recurrence of symptoms following an extended period of rest and rehabilitation during the 2023 season and subsequent off-season, surgical reconstruction of the ulnar collateral ligament has been recommended,” the team said in its statement.
Bieber, who won the American League Cy Young Award in 2020, made his fifth consecutive Opening Day start this year.
He threw 12 scoreless innings to start the season, scattering 10 hits across those outings, striking out a league-best 20 batters, walking just one and earning two wins.
“Just incredible on a night like tonight,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said after Bieber’s second outing against the Mariners, according to the Associated Press. “Cold, windy and just dominating out there. It’s really fun to watch two times in a row.”
Bieber, who had a league-leading 20 strikeouts after his first two starts against the Oakland and Seattle, pitched despite the elbow getting progressively worse.
“Sheer toughness and grit,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said in describing how Bieber managed the pain and performed.
But the elbow issues became too big of an issue, prompting the latest injury absence of Bieber’s career after his elbow inflammation last year and a shoulder strain that limited him to 16 starts — and just two after June 13 — during the 2021 season.
Bieber returned to Cleveland for more imaging tests and consultation. Dr. Keith Meister and Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the renowned orthopedist who did surgery on Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s right shoulder, recommended elbow reconstruction.
Bieber made the decision to have the operation on Friday night, knowing he’ll need up to 16 months to recover.
“He’s devastated by it,” Antonetti said on a Zoom call. “He feels as though he is letting a lot of people down. And I tried to reassure Shane that couldn’t be further from the truth because he embodies what it means to be a professional, what it means to be a great teammate and a great leader.”
Bieber is 62-32 with a 3.22 ERA in 134 career starts with Cleveland.
He led the majors in wins, ERA and strikeouts in the pandemic-shortened ’20 season.
Bieber made the All-Star team in 2019 and was named MVP when the Guardians hosted.
Vogt urged the Guardians not to run from their feelings about the loss of Bieber.
“Let it hurt. You don’t have to be OK,” he said. “It’s OK to not be OK. But this is what it is. We have an opportunity to still go out and play every day. The next-man-up mentality is what we have to be thinking about. You can’t replace Shane Bieber, but we do have guys that can step up and give us meaningful innings and get a lot of quality outs for us as we move forward.
“We’re all hurting. We love Shane. He’s such a big part of our team, our clubhouse, our culture, obviously our on-field success. That’s why my heart just goes out to him right now. We’ll support fully what he’s doing.”
The Guardians, in their first season under Vogt, had gotten off to a strong 7-2 start after their 3-1 win over the Twins on Saturday.
It was an early sign of a push for the AL Central that, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported in January, made them unlikely to trade Bieber in the first place.
Instead, they’ll be forced to navigate the rest of 2024 without him.
Logan Allen, ex-Met Carlos Carrasco, Tanner Bibee and Triston McKenzie were the other four members of the Guardians’ rotation behind Bieber to start the season, with McKenzie — who allowed five runs, with four of those earned, across 3 ⅓ innings — the only one to earn a loss through the opening eight games.
And with Bieber’s injury occurring in the early stage of the campaign, the Guardians still have time to acquire another starter if they wanted.
But that doesn’t mean it’ll become any easier to replace their ace again.
— with AP
