The Cleveland Guardians had their Opening Day starter on their roster for the ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays.
You’d figure based on that sentence that the pitcher would throw at least once in a six-game series, right?
Well, Tanner Bibee didn’t.
He wasn’t on the mound for a single pitch against the Rays.
And so when the Guardians were eliminated on Monday, Bibee had to go home for the offseason without even having had a chance to put his imprint on the series.
Bibee was “perhaps the most emotional member of the clubhouse” after Game 6, according to The Athletic’s Zack Meisel.
And really, who can blame him? Everyone else on the Guardians got to leave it out there on the field. The only place Bibee could let it out was the clubhouse when it was all over without him.
Why Guardians Didn’t Pitch Tanner Bibee
Meisel’s new article mentioned above came out on Wednesday and broke down further that Bibee’s role wasn’t necessarily going to get him a lot of work in the ALCS.
“The Guardians feared they could encounter a pitching staff-wrecking, 15-inning marathon at some point,” Meisel writes. “They considered carrying Rhys Hoskins in the ALDS, but opted for an extra pitcher instead. They swapped out Daniel Schneemann for another pitcher in the ALCS. Whenever Vogt or a member of the front office was asked why Bibee was constantly skipped over, they mentioned the possibility of needing to chew up innings in a blowout or an extra-inning affair.”
It does make sense, when making the decision for a final roster spot in the playoffs, to take the extra pitcher. If pitching plans get ruined in the middle of a series, it can be tough to come back from.
So to see Bibee on the roster was never a surprise. It was just always a bit odd that the Guardians didn’t find a single moment to give Bibee a shot.
“It’s worth noting Bibee was not at his best this season,” Meisel writes. “Forty-four pitchers made at least 30 starts, and Bibee’s 4.36 ERA ranked 32nd among them. His strikeout rate ranked 38th. September was his worst month, and it clearly eroded some of the team’s trust. The Rays have two all-world right-handed hitters who sit near the top of the lineup. The rest of their attack is full of lefties. The Guardians clearly deemed it a nightmare matchup for Bibee.”
It certainly wouldn’t have been easy, but Cleveland never gave Bibee a chance to prove himself.
Tanner Bibee Future
This lack of usage makes Bibee’s future in Cleveland a bit harder to figure out.
He’s under contract through 2029, along with a club option for 2030, so the Guardians don’t have to get rid of him by any means.
But assuming Bibee is still around whenever the 2027 season starts, he’s going to have to pick himself up and show the Guardians that they can still count on him. His ending to this season was the opposite of what he would’ve hoped for.
Inside Tanner Bibee’s Lack of ALCS Pitching for Guardians