Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee exited yesterday’s game due to right hip tightness in the sixth inning of yesterday’s win over the Rangers, as relayed by MLB.com. Bibee is scheduled to undergo an MRI today to determine the severity of the issue.
It’s the latest negative development for a Guardians rotation that’s been plagued by injury woes all year. Right-handers Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie are both currently on the 60-day injured list, while righty Cal Quantrill also missed significant time with injury earlier this season. With the club’s three most established starters having spent time on the shelf this season, Bibee has become the rotation’s anchor during his rookie season. The 24-year-old youngster sports an impressive 2.98 ERA that’s 41% better than league average across 25 starts this year. While his 3.52 FIP and and slightly inflated 80% strand rate indicate there could be some regression in Bibee’s future, his solid 24.1% strikeout rate and strong 7.7% walk rate give him the look of a strong mid-rotation starter at the very least.
If Bibee’s injury ends his 2023 campaign, it will have certainly been a successful one that figures to garner some attention in AL Rookie of the Year voting. The Guardians are unlikely to be meaningfully impacted by his availability for the remainder of this season, however. Considering Cleveland sits seven games back of the Twins in the AL Central with just thirteen games left to play, it would take a miracle for the club to make the postseason even in the weak AL Central division.
More from around MLB’s Central divisions…
- Cubs infielder Nick Madrigal exited yesterday’s 13-inning marathon loss to the Diamondbacks with right hamstring tightness, as relayed by Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. Madrigal’s balky right hamstring has caused him issues throughout his young big league career: it required season-ending surgery while he was with the White Sox back in 2021, and he missed just under a month with a strain earlier this season. A former top prospect who was selected fourth overall in the 2018 draft, Madrigal has slashed just .283/.311/.352 (83 wRC+) in 294 big league plate appearances this season. That being said, the 26-year-old has hit better since returning to the big leagues from an optional assignment in early June, slashing .271/.325/.379 with a minuscule 7.7% strikeout rate. With Jeimer Candelario already on the shelf, the Cubs figure to primarily rely on Patrick Wisdom at third base for the time being if Madrigal is out for an extended period.
- Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich has appeared in just one game since September 8 due to low back stiffness, and manager Craig Counsell (as relayed by MLB.com) indicates that the 31-year-old is still day-to-day despite starting Friday’s game against the Nationals. “At this point, we need 100 percent of Christian Yelich.” Counsell told reporters yesterday, “It’s not the time to go out there less than that.” Though Yelich is still nowhere near the level of production he enjoyed in 2018 and 2019 when he looked like one of the best players in the sport, the veteran outfielder has enjoyed a bounce-back of sorts in 2023, slashing a solid .272/.363/.432 with a wRC+ of 116. The club has utilized Joey Wiemer and Tyrone Taylor in the outfield alongside regular fixtures Sal Frelick and Mark Canha while Yelich has been unavailable.
- Royals catcher Salvador Perez exited yesterday’s game against the Astros after a foul ball off the bat of Jose Altuve struck his mask in the fifth inning. Perez began to feel lightheaded before exiting the game to undergo the concussion protocol, though the Royals later announced that Perez had avoided a concussion. Per MLB.com, manager Matt Quatraro told reporters that Perez “got his bell rung a little bit” but that Perez was feeling fine by the end of the game. It’s possible, then, that Perez returns to the lineup as soon as this afternoon. Perez has slashed .252/.291/.415 with a wRC+ of 84 in 551 trips to the plate this year while splitting time between catcher, first base, and DH.
Wow
Shane Bieber and Bibee… now, they just need Justin Bieber
Babs. Or any Bob or Bubba
Jim Bibby had a few good seasons for the Pirates back in the day.
And Mike Bibby needs to come out of retirement and change sports.
“At this point, we need 100 percent of Christian Yelich.” Counsell told reporters yesterday, “It’s not the time to go out there less than that.”
What does this even mean? The only thing that makes sense is making sure that he’s 100% ready for the postseason. I guess it’s technically possible that the Cubs could still take the central but going full bore with an injured player seems questionable.
I think its poor wording, or sentence structure, by Counsell. Seems to me what he’s trying to say is Yelich won’t play unless he’s 100%. Why they put him in there Friday I don’t understand. Retro-IL him and bring him off when he’s eligible, IF he’s ready then. What’s happening now is most games they’re 1 man short on the bench, and I don’t see how that benefits anyone.
“13-inning marathon”
The game took 4 hours and 24 minutes. That’s a ten minute pace. But I’m proud that all the players ran 26 miles and 385 yards.
“At this point, we need 100 percent of Christian Yelich.” Counsell told reporters yesterday, “It’s not the time to go out there less than that.”
“What were you thinking?! Don’t ever leave your arm lying around in the bullpen again. Even though we could use an extra arm, it’s not yours.”
Yeah I think Madrigal has proven that he can’t be relied on for any decent length of time. His paper thin Hammy’s just don’t stand up. Cubs should just put him on the 10 day and bring up Vasquez now as he will probably be at 3rd to start next year and will be the Utility guy next year after Shaw comes up if all things go to plan. Unless the Cubs plan on wasting more money on something worthless like a 3B next year. Madrigal, Mastrobuoni and Wisdom should be job hunting in December. Vasquez has the bat and glove to fill in anywhere except 1B. Cubs won’t win the division but are still just a simple 3 or 4 game winning streak for the Playoffs. They’ll be OK. They don’t match up well against the D Backs obviously.
Uncle—-it is amazing how someone can get hurt just running…between Madrigal and Eloy Chicago has that market covered. That said, Madrigal did perform much better than I would have guessed, especially at third.
I hope they have a good read whether or not Candy will be ready for the Rickies series.
What are the options until we know? 1. Has to be Mastrobuoni with a Wsdom platoon. 2. Pick your DFA between Young and maybe Rucker (B. Davis?) and promote Bote, Rios, or Vasquez. You can obviously release Bote or Rios at season’s end. 3. Not sure if you can manipulate the 60 day IL now, but if Fulmer is not potentially able to come back, open the spot that way.
Different note——does anybody else think Dansby didn’t realize that the ball hit Wesneski and was still in the air? I watched it numerous times and I think with a full out move to the ball, he would have caught it. He turned his body into a throwing position before the ball got out there and was ready to make a barehanding snag and throw.
Madrigal got traded from the Sox after first hurting his hamstring and needing surgery. That was our 2b man of the future. They traded him and Tepera for Kimberly. Kimberly sucked and was traded to the LAD for Pollock. Tepera went to the Angels as a FA. Pollock was understandably so anxious to get away from the Sox that he left a $19.5m QO on the table to sign for less with Seattle. So we got nothing for trading away our 2b man and haven’t had one in the three years since he left.
Pollock wasn’t given a QO. He walked away from a $13m option but got paid a $5m buyout. He got $7m from Sea. So he left $1m on the table.
@mike. Mike a friend of mine was at the game last night, and he’s already mentioned that same thing you’re describing about the ball deflecting off Wesneski and Dansby not getting it.
That K is so cumbersome Yelich’s back simply crumbles under the weight.
The Guards need to shut down Bibee. The season is lost and he has a bright future.
The second sentence here is bordering on unnecessary, not to mention it looks bad:
“Per MLB.com, manager Matt Quatraro told reporters that Perez ‘got his bell rung a little bit’ but that Perez was feeling fine by the end of the game. It’s possible, then, that Perez returns to the lineup as soon as this afternoon.”
Combine them:
“Per MLB.com, manager Matt Quatraro told reporters that Perez ‘got his bell rung a little bit’ but was feeling fine by the end of the game. so he may return to the lineup as soon as this afternoon.”