NEW YORK — Guardians ace Shane Bieber has an opportunity to redeem himself from his rocky outing in the 2020 Wild Card Series against the Yankees.
Cleveland needs Bieber in Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Thursday. Its offense has struggled since the postseason began, and now it will have to face a difficult matchup against lefty Nestor Cortes. It’s going to be a tough task for a lineup that hasn’t had a lot of success against southpaws this season.
Coming back from a 1-0 deficit in the ALDS isn’t easy. In the history of best-of-five postseason series, Game 1 winners have gone on to win the series 102 of 144 times (71%). It goes without saying how much more challenging it will be if Cleveland is down 2-0.
This is why Bieber is critical for the Guardians on Thursday. There’s no better time to have to lean on him: In his final 13 starts of the regular season dating back to July 29, he pitched to a 2.04 ERA with 88 strikeouts and 10 walks in 88 1/3 innings. He carried that momentum into the playoffs, as he worked 7 2/3 frames in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Rays while allowing just one run on three hits.
That outing was validation — whether it was needed or not — that Bieber can handle the bright lights after his only other postseason start in 2020. He faced the Yankees in a ballpark full of cardboard cutouts and gave up seven runs on nine hits in just 4 2/3 innings. When he takes on New York again Thursday, he’ll be looking to maintain the rhythm he’s established against the dangerous lineup the Yankees have.
“I think as long as you don’t change your game plan, your aggressiveness and stick to your strengths,” Bieber said. “Put yourself in a good position to at the end of the day just compete. Put the team in a good position to win, and hand the ball off to the bullpen — like we’ve tried to do all year. And like I’ve said, going into the postseason, I think that’s ultimately the goal.
“So stay aggressive. Keep guys off base. No free bases. That will be the goal.”
This mentality hasn’t changed much for Bieber over the years. His first playoff start didn’t go the way he wanted it to, but he had been electric in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season — so much so that he won the AL Cy Young Award. Then, in ’21, he sustained a shoulder injury that kept him on the shelf for most of the year. He returned in ’22, and his decreased velocity called for a few tweaks to his mechanics. It wasn’t until the summer months this season that he said he felt normal again.
“Mentally, I feel like I entered the season feeling good, feeling healthy,” Bieber said. “But after taking a little bit of time off, making some mechanical adjustments, it takes a while to find the right sequencing and arm stroke. Somewhere between June and July, July and August, [I] started to feel a little bit better.”
There’s one last hurdle for Bieber to overcome heading into Thursday. Once again, like Cleveland has dealt with all season, the weather won’t be in his favor. Bieber already had one of his starts in June cut short due to a long rain delay, and he’s had to deal with doubleheaders and rainouts more than a handful of times. It’s an even bigger headache in the postseason.
The Guardians and Yankees will have to wait to see what exactly the weather will be like on Thursday to determine if it is better to play that night or wait until Friday. In the meantime, Bieber is going to attempt to prepare as if he’s getting the ball in a critical Game 2 on Thursday night.
“I’ll go about my day today in preparation for my start tomorrow,” Bieber said on Wednesday, “and I’ll prepare tomorrow like I’m starting a 7:37 [p.m. ET] game, and we’ll go from there. It’s happened quite a bit this year. I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten used to it, but I definitely have a little bit of experience with it.”
The Guardians are confident their offense is on the brink of returning to its September form. And with Bieber on the mound, the team’s confident it’ll even the series with a win in Game 2.
“I mean, obviously [Bieber is] our guy. He’s our dog,” Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan said. “Whenever he goes up there, we feel like we got a good chance to win.”
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