Cleveland Guardians Ace Undergoes MRI, Will Miss Next Start With Forearm Injury

Shane Bieber has faced more batters than anyone else in the majors this year, but the two-time All-Star and former Cy Young could wind up missing time.

Cleveland Guardians right-hander Shane Bieber underwent an MRI on his right forearm/elbow area and will miss his next scheduled start, manager Terry Francona told reporters Friday.

The team is still awaiting results of the test, per The Athletic's Zack Meisel. It remains to be seen if Bieber will be placed on the Injured List.

Bieber was supposed to start Monday on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Through a league-leading 19 starts this season, Bieber was 5-6 with a 3.77 ERA, 1.248 WHIP and 7.3 strikeouts per nine innings. Those numbers took a big hit over the past two months, with Bieber posting a 2-5 record and 4.68 ERA since May 16.

Prior to that dropoff, Bieber was enjoying a 3-1 record and 2.61 ERA, which was much more in-line with the 43-21 record and 2.91 ERA he put up between 2019 and 2022.

Bieber made All-Star Games in 2019 and 2021, and he surely would have made it in 2020 if not for the COVID-shortened campaign. At just 25 years old, Bieber led all major league pitchers in wins, ERA, strikeouts and WAR en route to the AL Cy Young Award and a fourth-place finish in AL MVP voting.

Even though Bieber was not playing at that level in 2023, he was still the Guardians' most reliable starter. 24-year-olds Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen, as well as 28-year-old Aaron Civale, all have ERAs under 3.50, but none of them have tossed more than 70 innings at the major league level this season.

Bieber, on the other hand, has already pitched 117.

The Guardians are currently 45-45, which is good enough for first place in the lowly AL Central. If Cleveland were to drop one game in the standings, though, they could wind up falling all the way down to seventh in the race for the three AL Wild Card spots.

Cleveland's series against the Texas Rangers, which starts Friday at 8:05 p.m. ET, will not be impacted by Bieber's absence. Depending on the results of Bieber's MRI, Francona may have to rework his rotation for the upcoming Pirates series and beyond.

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