AL CY Young Awards Predictions
3. Shane Bieber, Cleveland Indians
A relative newcomer, Shane Bieber, has burst onto the scene after having relative success in 2018. Once again two of the largest attributes a pitcher can have are availability and consistency. Similar to Morton, Bieber has anchored his team’s, respective, rotation.
Among trades of Trevor Bauer, injuries to Corey Kluber and Danny Salazar, and the concurrently devastating and inspiring story of Carlos Carrasco, Bieber has stood tall. He has been producing in the Indians rotation from the commencement of the season, when Mike Clevenger went down he stood up.
Bieber’s emergence, along with that of Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac, has allowed the Indians to sustain themselves in a playoff run despite rampant injuries to all facets of their team. They currently are in the thick of a wild card and divisional race.
He leans on a standard assortment of pitches, primarily a fastball and slider also melding a curveball and change-up. His slider is the so-called out-pitch, as that is where the majority of his swing and misses come from.
Already in his second season, Bieber is on the cusp of 200 innings and has long surpassed 200 strikeouts- well on his way to 250. He can go deep within the game, while also racking up strikeouts. That is a rare talent especially for one who does not possess 99 mph speed.