Tanner Bibee named Guardians most impressive rookie

When it comes to who the most impressive rookie this season has been for the Cleveland Guardians, the choice is obvious. Tanner Bibee. Bibee was named Cleveland's best rookie in a recently published article appearing in The Athletic (subscription required).

As noted in the article, Bibee has been dominant for the majority of the season, sporting an ERA at or below 3.00 in five of the six months of the season. The month of June saw Bibee's era sit at 5.04, put up against how he has performed the rest of the season, this month is a clear outlier.

The Guardians called upon Bibee early in the year as they saw their starting rotation become decimated with injuries, and the other options they trotted out to the mound were simply not getting it done. Once being called up, Bibee took off and did not look back, putting together impressive outing after impressive outing.

Bibee has a 3.03 ERA on the season to go with a 1.185 WHIP and nine strikeouts per 9 innings. The rookie right-hander has 137 strikeouts in 136.2 innings (24 starts) and has quickly become a stabilizing force in Cleveland's rotation.

The performance of Bibee and the other two rookies in Cleveland's rotation (Gavin Williams and Logan Allen) made it much easier for the Guardians to part ways with Aaron Civale at the trade deadline. The front office dealt from a position of depth (starting pitching) to acquire a player who can hopefully make an impact for the ball club next season in Kyle Manzardo.

Cleveland's starting rotation appears to be in good hands moving forward with Bibee, Williams, and Allen ready to be the faces of the new era of Guardians pitching. With these three leading the way, it would not be a surprise to see the front office make another deal involving a starting pitcher that sees them acquiring another hitter to put into their lineup. As long as the Guardians' pitching factory continues to produce talent like Bibee, expect them to continue operating in this manner.