Shane Bieber Is At A Disadvantage For Game 2
Shane Bieber is a fantastic pitcher, and the Cleveland Guardians know that.
He wouldn’t be the staff ace otherwise: he completed his 2022 campaign with a phenomenal 2.88 ERA in 200 innings, with a cool 198 strikeouts.
Bieber will be tasked with stopping the New York Yankees offense on Friday at 1:07 p.m., in the second game of the American League Division Series.
New York took the first one, 4-1, on Tuesday, as starter Cal Quantrill wasn’t quite able to stop the Bombers’ talented lineup.
The Guardians are leaning on their ace to avoid falling into a 0-2 hole.
However, there are reasons to be concerned if you are Guardians fan who believes in the story that statistics tell.
“If you like stats we have mean ones about Shane Bieber: -His ERA in 14 career games started on 6+ days rest is 4.42. In 97 other starts his ERA is 2.96; -He has a 7.52 ERA in four career starts against the Yankees, including postseason; -He has never pitched at Yankee Stadium,” Talkin’ Yanks tweeted.
If you like stats we have mean ones about Shane Bieber:
-His ERA in 14 career games started on 6+ days rest is 4.42. In 97 other starts his ERA is 2.96
-He has a 7.52 ERA in four career starts against the Yankees, including postseason
-He has never pitched at Yankee Stadium pic.twitter.com/LAEAJPtqRa
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 13, 2022
Stats Aren’t Promising For Bieber
We have several takeaways after reading those stats.
The first one is that Bieber seems to be a pitcher who needs to be in a groove to show his best version, and six days of rest between starts is too much for him.
It would have been five, but Game 2 was supposed to be Thursday night and had to be rescheduled to Friday because of weather concerns.
The second takeaway is that the Yankees have his number, and one of the Guardians’ last playoff memories involve Bieber getting shelled by New York in the 2020 postseason.
Last but not least, his lack of experience at Yankee Stadium could be a factor, too.
Still, Bieber is so good that none of these stats may matter.
They are worth monitoring, though, with so much on the line for the Guards.