The Cleveland Guardians have had to patch the starting rotation together since losing Shane Bieber to Tommy John Surgery earlier this season, but things are going well as the team is fourth in the league with a 3.29 team ERA.
Even if he can’t be on the mound, it’s always helpful to have Bieber around the team for his veteran mind and his locker-room presence, and recent reports suggest that’s exactly what’s about to happen.
Tom Withers of The Associated Press shared that Bieber will be joining the Guardians during their West Coast road trip, which will be the first time he’ll be with the team since he had surgery.
Guardians ace Shane Bieber joins Cleveland during West road trip for first time since surgery (from @AP) https://t.co/a7dNaT28S2
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) May 26, 2024
Bieber is about six weeks out from his surgery and is no longer wearing a bulky brace on his elbow.
The Guardians began the trip on Friday in Anaheim for a series with the Los Angeles Angels and will be heading to Colorado afterward for a series with the Rockies, and Bieber will accompany the team the rest of the way before heading back to Arizona to continue rehabbing his elbow.
Cleveland has just begun an extremely favorable part of its schedule where it gets to face five different last-place teams over the course of about a month, so now is the time to go on a run and try to create a little breathing room in the AL Central.
Having Bieber around even for a short amount of time to give the pitching staff a little advice can go a long way.
NEXT: Analyst Notes Promising Upcoming Schedule For Guardians
