Bibee continues dominance vs. Phillies in pitchers' duel

CLEVELAND -- When Shane Bieber became the third starting pitcher to join the injured list, it became difficult to imagine who was going to be the rock of this rotation that’s now full of rookies. But who says the rookie can’t be the one to step up and lead the pack?

Tanner Bibee turned in his fifth consecutive start allowing fewer than two runs by blanking the Phillies in seven sparkling innings with eight strikeouts, one walk and one hit batter, as the Guardians walked away with a 1-0 victory on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd at Progressive Field.

“That was exciting,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “We didn’t want to let him go much farther, but he didn’t need it.”

Bieber, Cal Quantrill and Triston McKenzie are all on the injured list. Zach Plesac is struggling in Triple-A Columbus. The only remaining starter from Cleveland’s Opening Day roster is Aaron Civale, who’s also dealt with injuries this season. It was easy to assume Civale needed to be the temporary ace as this beat-up rotation tried to bridge the gap until its regulars were back at full strength.

The rookies -- Bibee, Gavin Williams and Logan Allen -- have never thrown more than 132 2/3 innings in a single season. They have just a sprinkle of experience in the big leagues. It seems impossible to think that any of them could emerge as the star of this pitching staff and lead the team to a victorious second half and postseason berth.

Or is it?

It’s hard to look too far into the future, but the more times Bibee gets sent to the rubber against teams with sub-.500 records or lineups with scorching-hot hitters and he continues to have success, it’s starting to be more believable that this is a challenge that he’s up for.

Bibee was reminded that he’d be making his 15th big league start on Saturday evening and even he couldn’t believe he’d been in the Majors this long.

“I was like, ‘Really? Already?’” Bibee said. “It seemed really quick and a lot.”

In that short time, he has pitched to a 3.04 ERA and just had a scoreless performance against the 2022 NL champions.

In his five starts since June 24, he’s gone 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA, which ranks as the best in the AL and third in the Majors in that span. He’s also struck out at least six batters in nine of his first 15 career starts, which is tied for second in club history with Danny Salazar and Bieber, trailing just Herb Score (12).

“It’s definitely a reassurance that you’re doing the right thing, you’re making the right pitches, you’re executing [pitches], like the whole process throughout the week is good,” Bibee said. “Especially when you face good lineups like that, I think it’s definitely indicative of what’s going on. “

Bibee is catching fire at the most critical time for the Guardians. Not only do they need someone to lead their pitching staff, but they desperately need starters to eat up innings after the bullpen has been overworked and shaky over the last week.

Since Bieber has landed on the IL, the Guardians have relied on reliever Xzavion Curry to open bullpen games -- first on Monday in Pittsburgh and Curry is scheduled to go again on Sunday against the Phillies since he wasn't used in Saturday's game.

Bibee knew it was his responsibility to make sure the bullpen would be ready to go on Sunday. And he did just that.

“They’ve been getting worked a lot because [there are] a lot of young guys here, a lot of injuries,” Bibee said. “So, I think me going deep today in the game was definitely important for them.”

Bibee relied heavily on his heater, which averaged 95.5 mph. His slider induced eight whiffs on 21 swings. And his four-pitch mix as a whole helped him retire 14 of 15 batters after he opened the third inning with a walk.

“That was some good stuff,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “I mean, [Bibee's] curveball was really good. He makes his pitches well, especially against our left-handed hitters. You know, that's what he was. He was dynamite tonight. He was over 70 percent strikes, too.”

The Guardians have so much more to learn about Bibee. But what they’ve seen so far has to make them extremely optimistic about his future.

“Obviously, he’s a growing talent, a special young arm,” Guardians shortstop Amed Rosario said through interpreter Agustin Rivero. “I feel like if he continues to develop in this way, he’s gonna be a superstar.”