Tanner Bibee Defends His 2026 Season, Saying It's Not a Bad Showing

Bibee has begun the season off on a fairly rocky note, tossing some good outings and others that have been struggle-filled.

Apr 22, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee (28) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Houston Astros at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images | David Dermer-Imagn Images

Tanner Bibee has had an up-and-down start to the 2026 MLB regular season.

But although many have been incredibly critical of him through the first five games, both Bibee and manager Stephen Vogt believe he is right where he needs to be.

“I feel like I’ve had one egregiously bad start. And honestly, other than that, I feel like I’ve thrown the ball really well,” Bibee said to reporters following the defeat. “We faced kind of a gauntlet (of quality teams) in this first, however many weeks. And to be in the spot we are right now, and myself, I feel like obviously we’re not satisfied or anything like that, but it’s a really good thing to build off of and to keep going.”

Following a scoreless six innings of action thrown against the Baltimore Orioles back on Friday, April 17, Bibee returned back to the loss column on Wednesday.

In a rubber match against the Houston Astros from Progressive Field, Bibee produced a pretty solid outing through innings two, three, four, five and six. However, the opening inning ended up being the deciding factor, even if he locked down the ship the rest of his time while on the mound.

Yordan Alvarez DEMOLISHES a 2-run homer 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/TrmRwBLuAz

— MLB (@MLB) April 22, 2026

In the first inning, after allowing a double to Carlos Correa, he lofted a 77 mph curveball down the heart of the zone for power-hitter Yordan Alvarez, who is having an incredible start to the season. He squared it up and belted it over 420 feet into right field. Each and every person from Progressive Field knew it was gone the moment it left his barrel.

“Definitely, just a poorly executed pitch, but I think it was the right pitch in the spot if I threw it where (catcher) Bo (Naylor) wanted me to throw it,” the 27-year-old starting pitcher said. “It was supposed to be in the dirt, threw it up. And the guy, as good as he is and how hot he is right now, it’s going to happen. Just can’t make the mistake.”

But from there, Bibee locked the Astros' red-hot bats down.

Outside of the opening frame, Bibee ended up giving up just three hits and two walks, striking out two in the process. That's a positive sign for his growth mentally, showcasing his ability to take a punch and move on.

"The first two hitters in the game," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said about what the difference in the game was. "[Tanner Bibee] left a two-strike pitch up to Correa and left a curveball up to Alvarez. Outside of that, I thought Tanner was really good. They made him work. I thought he was landing the change-up to both lefties and righties. He's used both fastballs and all the breaking balls.

"I thought he pitched an excellent game. So, unfortunately, the first two hitters ended up being the difference in the game."

On the campaign, Bibee has a 4.45 ERA across six starts, posting a 1.451 WHIP and .275 batting average along the way. His biggest flaw has been the long ball, which he's given up five times to start the year.

As he explained, part of the issue is his command, which has ended up putting some pitches right down the heart of the zone.

Fortunately, even with some bumps along the way, the Guardians are still one of the hottest teams in baseball with a 14-12 overall record.

And if Bibee can begin to trot that ERA down below 4.0 and WHIP back in the 1.2-1.3 range, the Guardians will be in an even better position.