Shane Bieber was one of the breakout stars of the 2019 baseball season and, having just turned 25 this spring, appears to have a bright future.
The Indians have done an incredible job developing pitchers over the last decade, so I’ll preface this by saying there’s reason to be optimistic Bieber will improve upon the flaws I’m about to point out. That said, there are some numbers from his 2019 season that raise some minor concerns.
The issue is Bieber’s four-seam fastball, a pitch he relied upon 46 percent of the time last season.
According to Statcast, when batters put Bieber’s fastball in play they generated a .