Cleveland Indians: Shane Bieber throws no-hitter in Triple-A

One of the Cleveland Indians top ranked prospects is continuing to prove why he’s one of the best in the organization, tossing a no-hitter Friday night for the Columbus Clippers.

Shane Bieber has had a tremendous 2018 campaign so far, and it’s only getting better. Bieber threw a no-hitter against the Gwinnett Braves.

Sure, the game was shortened to seven innings by rain, so he didn’t go the full nine, but this is still impressive. If you ask Bieber, he’ll tell you it counts, so that’s good enough for me. He didn’t allow any walks and struck out seven. In rainy conditions, that’s extremely difficult to do. It’s hard enough to do in perfect conditions.

This is just the latest in a string of strong outings from Bieber and it’s his best one yet. Not too long ago, we profiled Shane Bieber and the potential for his arrival in the big leagues in the wake of his strong season.

Related Story: Could prospect Shane Bieber be promoted soon?

His performance Friday night lowered his ERA to 1.05 in Triple-A and 1.10 overall on the season. Across his 10 starts between Double-A and Triple-A, Bieber has struck out 61 batters and has allowed just three walks.

Does this change Bieber’s timeline?

Possibly. He’s obviously being developed as a starter and his long term home is in the rotation. But with Adam Plutko flirting with his own no-hitter against the Cubs and pitching well, there might not be an opening in the rotation right away for Bieber.

But right now, the Cleveland Indians could use as many good arms as they can find in this bullpen, especially after Friday’s debacle. After continued dominance, the Indians are realizing that Bieber’s stats this year are the real deal and this isn’t just some fluke season.

There are examples of other pitchers who were called up and went into the bullpen for a while before going back to the rotation. Chris Sale and David Price are two successful ones that come to mind. The Indians might be forced to do this with Bieber if their bullpen continues to collapse on itself.

Could he be called up to the bullpen?

I would still characterize moving Bieber to the big league bullpen as a longshot, but things can change. We wrote that Bieber could see a promotion to the big leagues around mid-June should he stay on this path, and that still feels like an accurate timeline. But whether it’s to bring him up to the rotation or the bullpen may be a fair question to ask.

The Cleveland Indians bullpen needs as much help as it can get right now. The trade deadline is two months away and there’s no outside reinforcements coming soon. The answers need to be found within the organization right now and Shane Bieber is the best performing arm right now, and if the team is serious about winning the World Series title this year, all options need to be on the table.

Bieber has four pitches, two are plus offerings, while two are average offerings. All he needs to work in the bullpen are two pitches. So a bullpen role could be in play if the Indians bullpen collapses further.

Next: Why is Jason Kipnis continuing to struggle?

Normally, I’m not in favor of putting long term starters in the bullpen, but sometimes it can work out in the best interests of the player. It depends on what they bring to the table and what they still needed to finish developing in the minor leagues.