Entering the 2021 season, it never seemed possible that we could possibly do a countdown of top Guardians players and not have our second starting pitcher until No. 7. But here we are, and here is Shane Bieber.
Could Bieber, just 26 years old and in his fourth season in the majors, possibly have repeated the 1.63 ERA he put up over 77.1 innings last season? Probably not, but we’ll never get to know how close he could have gotten over a full 162 thanks to a bum shoulder knocking him out in mid-June. His final start before the injury was his worst: five earned runs over 5.