How Tanner Bibee Reacted to Being Named the Guardians' Opening Day Starter

The Cleveland Guardians are just under a week away from the start of the 2026 MLB regular season.

And now, the coaching staff has announced who will be on the mound to kickstart what is expected to be an exciting season.

On Friday, March 20, the Guardians officially announced that right-handed pitcher Tanner Bibee would be given the nod on Opening Day. The 27-year-old beat out counterpart Gavin Williams, who has garnered praise all offseason as the team's next prominent arm on the mound.

While Bibee has earned the right to be the one to start off Cleveland's season on the right note, he'll have to demonstrate consistency on the mound early in the season to lock down the ace spot for the remainder of the campaign.

When asked about how he felt regarding the opportunity to take on the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, March 26, Bibee seemed excited.

“Definitely really cool,” Bibee said. “Definitely some thoughts creep in, like, ‘Was it never meant to be?’ But the fact that you get the second time, it’s like a vote of confidence and it’s a really nice thing to just have the opportunity again to go out there and lead us on Opening Night.

“Obviously, I didn’t get to do it last year, so I think the emotions will still be the same. I’m pretty excited.”

Tanner Bibee has been named the Guardians' Opening Day starter.

A second opportunity at his first career Opening Day start, after he was scratched hours before last year after falling ill.
— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) March 20, 2026

In the 2025 campaign, Bibee was supposed to be the Opening Day starter, but prior to the regular season beginning, he had fallen ill. When he eventually did make his debut that season, towards the end of March, he looked sharp on the mound.

On March 30, 2025, he pitched against the Kansas City Royals, pitching through 5.2 innings of action, allowing a measly two hits and two walks while striking out two batters. It wasn't a flashy outing, but it got the job done.

The rest of the season was riddled with ups and downs, as Bibee attempted to settle in as Cleveland's No. 1 option on the mound.

Across 182.1 innings pitched and 31 games started, he recorded a 4.23 ERA and a 1.229 WHIP. He also struck out eight batters per nine innings while allowing 8.4 hits per nine innings. Unfortunately, almost all of his surface-level statistics showed that his productivity on the mound had taken a step back, but he has recognized what went wrong and hopes to see it fixed this season.

Given how well he finished the year, though, everything is looking up for the talented two-time Opening Day starter.

“That September really helped me throughout the offseason in giving me some realizations of what I needed to do and gave me a clear path instead of searching so hard,” Bibee said.

A lot of his advanced metrics from last season showed that he was still one of the better arms in baseball, finishing above average in numerous statistics like xERA, xBA, Avg. Exit Velo, BB% and Hard-Hit%.

With how deep his bag is, it's no surprise that hope isn't even remotely given up on with Bibee. He throws a clean 4-seamer, cuter, sweeper, change-up and curveball, all of which keep batters guessing what is going to come their way.

While he's normally going to be utilizing his 4-seam and cutter, expect to see Bibee, who's entering his prime, try to spread out his pitches to grow his arsenal further.

As the Guardians begin finalizing the 26-man roster ahead of Opening Day, Bibee can rest assured he'll be the one leading the team into a brand-new season.