Guardians fans are already complaining about how rotation lines up in crucial White Sox series

On Tuesday night, Tanner Bibee was unhittable for the first three innings in the Guardians’ eventual 9-5 win over the Orioles. 

When Bibee walked into the dugout at the end of the third inning after getting Leody Taveras to fly out, he had thrown just 29 pitches and had yet to allow a baserunner. 

And even if he hadn’t been perfect, he had a solid six-run cushion thanks to the Guardians’ offensive outburst. It looked like Bibee was going to cruise toward his sixth win of the year. 

Two innings and five runs later, Stephen Vogt walked out to the mound at Camden Yards and took the ball from Bibee with the Guardians’ fates hanging in the balance. While Bibee has spent most of the season pitching without getting much run support behind him, he almost blew six runs of support on Tuesday. 

Luckily for him, the Guardian's offense and bullpen were able to come up clutch and push the Guardians to a huge win. But those frustrations with Bibee could reach a fever pitch next week when he makes his next start against the AL Central-leading White Sox in the Guardians’ biggest series of the week. 

Everyone’s already excited. 

The Guardians' season could come down to Tanner Bibee's start against the White Sox next week

Part of the reason why there’s frustration about Bibee making a start against the White Sox is because there are better options in the rotation. 

As of now, the Guardians’ rotation for that series against the White Sox would line up with Bibee starting Game 1 on Monday, Parker Messick in Game 2 and Foster Griffin in Game 3. 

Even if the Guardians use Friday’s off-day to do some tweaking to their rotation, they’re still going to need to trot out one of Bibee or Cantillo in that series against the White Sox due to Gavin Williams pitching on Saturday against the Twins. 

Bibee may be in the midst of a rough season, but he's still a better option than Cantillo. Cantillo now has a 6.59 ERA over his last three starts after his dud on Monday, and he leads MLB with 77 walks. 

Although Bibee has yet to make it past the fifth inning in his last two starts while allowing five runs in both of them, he’s shown flashes of being a frontline ace in the past. 

The Guardians were in this same situation last year, and Bibee responded by recording a 1.30 ERA in September that was buoyed by a shutout over the White Sox. 

This year’s White Sox squad is a bit different, however. Chicago entered play today with a two-game lead over the Guardians in the American League Central, and needs to win just one game in next week’s series to take control of the head-to-head tiebreaker. 

It looked like the White Sox will get their first chance to earn that tiebreaker when they take on Bibee on Monday. While one start doesn’t define a legacy, Bibee can change the way his season is viewed with a good start next week.

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