It was recently discussed on this site how important Tanner Bibee is for the Cleveland Guardians and their 2025 aspirations.
He will be required to lead the Guards rotation at least for the first half until Shane Bieber is ready to pitch.
In addition to Bibee’s enormous talent, he got to experience a whole different world in the postseason last year.
Talent plus adversity and adjustments make stars.
The postseason represents a huge test for everybody, even veterans, and it tests everyone’s resolve in adverse moments.
In the specific case of Bibee, it’s one thing to post a 3.47 ERA in the regular season, but dominating the best hitters in the world in October requires another mindset.
To do it, pitchers need to bring their A-game and Bibee did just that for the most part.
He talked about pitching in the postseason, and he had nothing but good things to say about the whole experience.
“It was unbelievable. I kind of had an idea I was gonna be starting Game 1 during the [ALDS]. As soon as Detroit won [their Wild Card Series], it was my stomach starting turning into knots, like ‘oh my god this is real.’ Those knots didn’t let up for days until the morning of my start,” he said on MLB Network Radio, per SI.com.
Bibee had his highs and lows, but all things considered, was really good in his first postseason.
He posted a 3.45 ERA in four starts and 15.2 innings.
He did allow 19 hits, but walked just four and struck out 16 batters.
While Bibee didn’t provide much length, he was excellent against the Detroit Tigers in the Division Series and conceded just two runs in 8.2 frames across two starts.
He had a forgettable outing in Game 2 of the League Championship Series against the New York Yankees but was actually dominating them in Game 5 until that fateful Giancarlo Stanton two-run home run with two outs (and two strikes) in the sixth frame that erased the Guardians’ 2-0 lead and tied the score.
These are all learning experiences: next time, he will be much more careful with the other team’s hottest hitter.
Bibee can make history with the Guardians.
He is that good.
If he embraces the challenges and learns from his mistakes, he has a chance to be huge in franchise history.
NEXT: Guardians Insider Discusses Forgotten Rotation Arm
