Eight games into the 2024 season, the Cleveland Guardians received shocking news about one of their best players.
Pitcher Shane Bieber will undergo surgery to reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, the team announced Saturday. He will miss the remainder of the season. The surgery, performed by Dallas orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister, has not yet been scheduled.
According to MLB.com, Bieber, who turns 29 in May, felt pain in his elbow during his opening game start against the Oakland Athletics. Despite that discomfort, he struck out 11 batters and allowed four hits in six innings.
But the pain continued in Bieber's second appearance. The right-handed pitcher continued to perform well against the Seattle Mariners, pitching six scoreless innings and striking out nine. Bieber said he was still in pain, but subsequent tests and scans revealed the injury. After consulting with his doctor, he was advised to undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.
Bieber struggled with inflammation in his right elbow last season, which limited him to 128 innings and 21 starts. He also had the lowest strikeout rate (7.5 nine-inning average) and second-highest earned run average (3.80) of any of MLB's last six seasons.
This injury could mean the end of Bieber's career with the Guardians. He is scheduled to become a free agent after the season and is expected to be in demand among teams looking for a viable starting pitcher, despite requiring Tommy John surgery. (If Bieber had pitched well and the Guardians had struggled, he probably would have been a trade candidate.)
Bieber was one of the best pitchers in MLB for seven seasons. In 843 career innings, he posted a 62-32 record with a 3.22 ERA and averaged 10.2 strikeouts per nine frames.
One week into the 2024 MLB season, the Guardians are 6-2 and in second place in the AL Central Division, a half-game behind the Detroit Tigers.
