Guardians Star Among Biggest Questions About 2024 MLB Season

A Cleveland Guardians star was among the biggest questions about the 2024 MLB season.

Jul 9, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Shane Bieber (57) and catcher Cam Gallagher (35) look to the scoreboard during the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians are close to securing one of the top two spots in the American League playoff picture. At this point in time, they appear to be one of the top World Series contenders in baseball.

While they have a shot at winning a championship this season, there is one major question surrounding their 2024 campaign.

Bleacher Report recently put out an article about each team's "Biggest What-If" for the current season. When it came to the Guardians, they talked about the health of star pitcher Shane Bieber.

"Meanwhile, the Guardians have navigated some ups and downs in the starting rotation to clinch the AL Central title, and a healthy Bieber would undoubtedly have improved an already promising outlook heading into October."

No one can take away from what Cleveland has accomplished this season. They have been one of the most pleasant surprises in baseball. However, one has to ask what a healthy Bieber could have done.

Looking ahead to the postseason, the Guardians will have to go up against teams like the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles. Beating those teams is going to be a very difficult task.

That being said, having an ace like Bieber in the rotation would have made the task just a little bit easier.

In the two games that he did pitch at the beginnning of the year before the injury, Bieber was dominant. He made two starts, going 2-0 with no runs given up, just one walk, 10 hits, 20 strikeouts, and a 0.92 WHIP.

Clearly, Bieber was starting off what could have been an extremely dominant season. Unfortunately, we'll never know what could have been if he hadn't gotten hurt.

Now, he's set to hit the open free agency market. No one knows whether or not Cleveland will be able to bring him back or not. The only thing that is known is that Bieber would have been huge for the team's postseason chances.

Hopefully, they'll be able to make a deep run without him. But his arm would have been nice to have.