The Cleveland Guardians suffered a tough blow to their chances of competing this year when Shane Bieber was diagnosed with UCL damage last weekend.
He will need Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season, plus a big chunk of 2025 as well.
He was off to an amazing start, tossing 12 scoreless innings and striking out 20 batters.
Many people are now pessimistic about the Guardians’ chances, but not everything is lost.
Not yet, at least.
Not without a fight.
The Guardians are currently 8-3 and still lead the AL Central despite losing on Tuesday.
They remain a very talented team with many breakout candidates and quality prospects.
According to Guardians analyst Jensen Lewis, Bieber’s injury should not be a death sentence for the team.
“Jensen Lewis is still optimistic about the Guardians outlook despite Shane Bieber’s injury. #ForTheLand. ‘Look at 2016… they went to the World Series with Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, and Josh Tomlin. & they were written off!,'” BIGPLAY Cleveland tweeted with Lewis’ quotes.
Jensen Lewis is still optimistic about the Guardians outlook despite Shane Bieber's injury. #ForTheLand
"Look at 2016… they went to the World Series with Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, and Josh Tomlin. & they were written off!"
–@JLEWFifty ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/rW5KkLZXiw
— BIGPLAY Cleveland Show (@BIGPLAYCLEshow) April 9, 2024
He mentioned how the 2016 team lost Michael Brantley, Carlos Carrasco, and Danny Salazar to injury, and still were just a few outs away from winning it all.
He noted that those Guards used three starts from Kluber and two apiece from Bauer and Tomlin, and were awfully close to taking the trophy.
These Guardians have a lot of talent in the rotation, too, most notably in Tanner Bibee, Triston McKenzie, and Gavin Williams once he returns from his own injury.
Logan Allen is a steady young contributor, and Carrasco is back as depth, looking to participate in a World Series with Cleveland after that missed chance eight years ago.
Also, as Jensen noted, the fact the Bieber injury happened so early in the season gives the Guardians more time to address it.
There is still hope, and the means to compete are there.
NEXT: Triston McKenzie Shared A Big Shoutout To The Fans
