Tanner Bibee Deserves To Be In Rookie Of The Year Conversation
Tanner Bibee started the 2023 season with Triple-A Columbus and was just trying to reach the Majors.
Little did he know that he would become one of the Cleveland Guardians' most consistent and best pitchers in their rotation by the end of the season. His production has even been good enough to put him in the conversation for American League Rookie of the Year.
MLB.com ranked Bibee as 10th in their last version of Rookie Power Ranking (this list includes both American League and National League rookies). However, a lot has happened since then.
Josh Jung of the Texas Rangers underwent surgery on his thumb which will keep him sidelined for at least a month and a half. The Baltimore Orioles' Gunnar Henderson has cooled down some as he's hit just .250 and slugged .516 over his last 30 games.
Bibee on the other hand just keeps getting better with every start he makes.
The righty has a perfect 4-0 record in his last seven starts along with a 1.70 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. This includes starts against some of baseball's best lineups in the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers.
He currently has a season ERA of 2.92 over his 18 starts on the season and is averaging about one strikeout in an inning.
Bibee's WAR of 2.0 (FanGraphs) is also fourth-highest among AL rookies. Henderson and Jung lead the way with a 2.7. However, part of this may have to do with Bibee not making his Big League debut until the end of April while Henderson and Jung broke camp with the club and had a month head start.
If Bibee continues his pace of pitching every five days and doesn't get hit with any innings limits, he's looking at around five to seven more starts before the regular season wraps up.
Jung and Henderson are the clear frontrunners to win the award but Bibee could make things interesting if he continues at this rate in his final month of the season.
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