There was nothing Tanner Bibee could say after Monday that would have made the situation feel any better. He knew it, and he said so.
After one of the worst starts of his career, a three-inning nightmare against the Washington Nationals in which he allowed eight hits, five home runs, and seven earned runs in a 10-2 loss at Progressive Field, Bibee met with reporters in the Cleveland clubhouse and gave an answer that was as honest as it gets from a professional athlete processing a difficult moment in real time.
“Anything right now would probably be emotional, there is nothing I can really say about it,” Bibee said.
"Anything right now would probably be emotional, there is nothing I can really say about it"#Guardians Tanner Bibee after his start vs the Nationals and the process of moving on from it#GuardsBall @WEWS pic.twitter.com/IC83madwUS
— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) May 26, 2026
He did not make excuses. He sat in front of reporters and acknowledged that the emotions of the night were too fresh.
Manager Stephen Vogt pointed to a lack of execution and an inconsistent fastball as the primary culprits. Vogt was also careful to note that this was not the Tanner Bibee that Cleveland has come to expect, framing Monday as an outlier.
The 0-7 record that Bibee carries into his next start remains one of the most misleading statistics in the American League. He entered Monday with the lowest run support average among qualified pitchers in all of baseball at 1.34 runs scored per nine innings, a staggering number that reflects how consistently the offense has failed to give him anything to work with this season. On most nights Bibee has done his job and done it well. The lineup simply has not held up its end of the arrangement.
Monday was different. Monday was Bibee’s night to own, and the emotions in the clubhouse afterward reflected a pitcher who understood that completely. The five home runs allowed pushed his season total to 10, and the ERA sits at 4.57 after absorbing the damage from three difficult innings against a Washington lineup that was swinging hot bats from the first pitch.
What comes next is what matters. Bibee has shown throughout his career in Cleveland that he has the makeup and the talent to flush a bad outing and come back stronger.
His best response will come in his next start.
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