Slow Start Continues For Shane Bieber Against Marlins
Shane Bieber is best known for being the Cleveland Guardians ace and the 2020 Cy Young winner. He's been one of MLB's most consistent pitchers over the last few seasons making the case for a huge contract once he hits free agency.
However, that version of Shane Bieber has yet to show up in 2023 over his first five starts of the season.
Bieber currently has an ERA of 3.23 and a WHIP of 1.17 over 30.2 innings pitched. This is his highest ERA since the 2019 season which was also his second season in the league.
His start against the Miami Marlins in the series opener highlighted a lot of the struggles that Bieber has dealt with early on in the season. He gave up three runs on four hits in just 5.2 innings of work. Bieber also had trouble with his command issuing an uncharacteristic four walks.
The University of California product acknowledged this after the game saying that
"I don't know the last time I had that many walks. I had some 50/50 shots and it seems like when you really need them, they maybe don't go your way and that's the game of baseball so I put myself into some tough spots and wasn't able to get out of it."
Opposing batters have been incredibly aggressive against Bieber early on in the game and in at-bats. This is the same thing that happened against the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals when Bieber found himself in trouble.
Bieber's start of the 2023 season is reminiscent of how he started the season last year. He had ups and down but really settled in after the All-Star break. In his final 14 starts of the season, he recorded 9 wins and a 2.48 ERA.
Hopefully, it doesn't take Bieber that long to get going the season as the team is really counting on him with the number of injuries they have.
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