The Cleveland Guardians are off to a strong start to the season at 6-2, but that all of a sudden is an afterthought after the recent injury news out of their trainer’s room.
Former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber was off to a dominant 2-0 start, and it’s now all over as he will be undergoing Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season.
Fans are understandably devastated, as losing your ace is one of the most impossible things to overcome in baseball.
BREAKING: Shane Bieber will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season. More: https://t.co/DyJUzlCJLk Photo: AP pic.twitter.com/rB0QRCW5hh
Twitter quickly turned into a grieving session for Guardians fans and baseball fans everywhere.
Is this a belated April fool’s joke?
Well biscuits. Time for another one of the young guns to step up.
Shane Bieber needs elbow surgery- out for season pic.twitter.com/pDPixcCUkr
Shane Bieber man no way I’m so hurt pic.twitter.com/lorOeoPPVn
Bieber had some injury concerns last year and only made 21 starts, so this is a devastating blow as he was firing on all cylinders and making an early case to push for a second Cy Young award.
There’s nowhere to turn to fill in for Bieber, as you can’t replace a guy with a 3.22 career ERA.
The bigger picture here is that while elbow injuries have always been prevalent for pitchers, the issue seems to be getting worse.
Some other big-name pitchers who are currently out with elbow injuries include Jacob DeGrom, Sandy Alcantara, Shohei Ohtani, Gerrit Cole, Eury Perez, Walker Buehler, Robbie Ray, Dustin May, Shane McLanahan, Felix Bautista, Lucas Giolito, and now Spencer Strider.
One has to wonder if the prioritization of velocity in recent years is starting to rear its ugly head.
Will we soon see a day when teams dial it back and focus more on longevity?