Cleveland Indians: Projecting the three-man Wild Card round rotation

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CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 06: Starting pitcher Shane Bieber #57 of the Cleveland Indians pitches during the third inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Progressive Field on September 06, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 57. 5. RHP. (8-1, 1.74 ERA). ShaneBieber. player

There’s little doubt that the Indians will hand the ball off to Shane Bieber in game one of their Wild Card series.

Bieber is the front-runner to take home the AL Cy Young Award and may even receive MVP consideration as he leads baseball in ERA (1.74), strikeouts (112) and wins (8).

He is also perfectly lined up to get the ball in game one of the Wild Card Round, which is slated to begin on September 29, as his next start is scheduled for Tuesday against the White Sox, which would give him seven days of rest before taking the ball in game one.

Despite an anemic offense, Bieber has proved he can lead the Indians to a win no matter how much run support he is given and by throwing him Game 1, Cleveland will have a chance to jump ahead of any team 1-0 and push them against the wall in a do-or-die Game 2 which with Cleveland’s rotation may be impossible to beat.

The one knock on Bieber entering October is that he has never pitched in a postseason game, but there’s no reason to believe the right-hander can’t handle the pressure, especially given the Indians felt comfortable trading away Mike Clevinger in large part due to the trust they have in Bieber and the rest of their starting staff.

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