Shane Bieber, who has shown signs of being an ace again for the Cleveland Guardians following an injury-slowed 2023, will start the team’s opener for the fifth straight season. Game one is Thursday night in Oakland at 10:05pm.
The 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner, the right-hander has had a solid spring training with the Guardians after making just 21 starts last season due to elbow issues.
Bieber, 28, has shown an uptick in velocity, another sign he’s healthy and returning to form. Bieber went 6-6 with a 3.80 ERA last season but was sidelined from mid-July until late September.
Bieber is 60-32 with a 3.27 ERA in 134 games since debuting with Cleveland in 2018. In the pandemic-shortened ’20 season, he led the majors in wins, ERA and strikeouts.