Shane Bieber provides Cleveland Guardians with some relief

Despite their relative lack of activity during the offseason, the Cleveland Guardians still plan on contending in 2022. This means that, as has been the case over the past few years, the Guardians will be leaning heavily upon their pitching staff to win games. It is a strategy that has worked with some degree of success over the past few years, although the Guardians pitching staff is not what it once was.

This strategy also depends on having their staff ace be healthy. In this case, that would be Shane Bieber, who missed just over three months last year due to a strained shoulder. While he did return to the mound for a pair of three inning outings last year, it is difficult to extrapolate much from those outings.

Cleveland Guardians ace Shane Bieber completely healthy once more

The Guardians have some positive news on that front. Bieber tweeted out on Thursday that his shoulder is completely healthy and that he is ready to go once the season gets underway. That is, provided that the season does actually happen.

Bieber’s health may be the biggest key to the Guardians season. The 2020 AL Cy Young winner has established himself as Cleveland’s most recent ace, a status that he was cementing prior to his injury last year. As it is, he posted a solid 3.17 ERA and a 1.210 WHiP in his 96.2 innings, striking out 134 batters with 34 walks.

The Guardians will need similar production, if not better, from Bieber if they are going to contend in the coming season. The rest of their rotation has plenty of potential, but there are plenty of question marks as well. Having Bieber back to form will alleviate quite a bit of concern.

Shane Bieber says that his shoulder is completely healthy and he is ready to go. The Cleveland Guardians will need him to be that ace this year.