The Cleveland Guardians seem to have hit a wall in their pursuit of the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. The Guardians have lost four of their past six games and remain three games behind with 22 to play.
The latest loss was a 6-3 setback to the Toronto Blue Jays in a game started by Tanner Bibee, who allowed five walks, four hits, and five runs in four innings. It dropped the right-hander’s record to an unsightly 5-15, which is significant with the playoff race so tight at this point of the season.
It is accompanied by a 4.06 ERA, which may be why Guardians manager Stephen Vogt says Bibee’s record is misleading, with the lack of offense from his teammates as much to blame as anything else.
“I think Tanner’s been consistent for us,” Vogt said. “Tanner’s given us a chance to win more often than not. His record is not indicative of how this year’s gone for him. We’ve had a tough time scoring runs in his starts, but he’s been excellent.”
According to Cleveland.com, Bibee entered his start on Thursday, his 29th of the season, with the Guardians scoring 3.05 runs per nine innings, which is the least among qualified major league starters. They have scored 56 runs with him in the game, which is the fewest for any pitcher with at least 150 innings this season.
However, it is also true that his 15 losses are the most by a Cleveland pitcher since Corey Kluber lost 16 games in 2015. The Guardians are 8-21 in his starts, making him the first Cleveland starter since Jack Armstrong in 1992 to have the team lose that many.
More importantly, the Guardians have lost seven of Bibee’s past eight starts as they try to gain ground in the AL standings. Cleveland has managed to hang on to the third AL Wild Card despite a .500 record, holding a one-half game lead over the Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles entering play on Friday.
Bibee was 12-11 last season and had a career record of 34-23 in his previous three seasons with Cleveland, so he does have a positive track record. He was also kept in the rotation after the Guardians added Foster Griffin from the Washington Nationals at the trade deadline.
Bibee is in line to make four more starts this season, including a potentially huge game against the White Sox on Sept. 14 and one of the final two games of the season against the Kansas City Royals.
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