Tanner Bibee shuts down Phillies in 1-0 Guardians win

The month of July has been special for Tanner Bibee. Cleveland's rookie right hander has been able to take care of business when his turn in the rotation comes and that continued in Saturday's 1-0 win. With the Guardians offense having their own difficulties getting a run across, they desperately needed Bibee to come through an outstanding outing.

Bibee was able to limit the star-studded Phillies lineup to just two hits in seven innings of work while striking out eight and walking just one. 73 of Bibee's 103 went for strikes as he commanded the zone throughout the night. The eight strikeouts from Bibee was his second-highest total of the month (nine). This was a performance well beyond his years and it shows why Cleveland was so high on him in the first place.

This most recent start is the latest in a dominant run from Bibee. In his fours starts in July, Bibee has allowed just three runs on 13 hits in 23.2 innings with 27 strikeouts and only eight walks. The only team to put up multiple runs against Bibee was Texas (2), the only start where Cleveland did not come out victorious in the end.

During this run Bibee has limited opponents to a .167 batting average and on-base percentage of .247. Of his 387 pitches, Bibee has thrown 65% for strikes, 14% of which were called strikes and 15% being of the swing and miss variety. This is beyond impressive for a pitcher with just 15 career starts to his name.

With the injuries to Cleveland's rotation, the Guardians needed someone to step up in the absences of multiple pitchers who have ended up on the injured list. This recent run from Bibee shows that he is more than capable of pitching well enough to help keep the Guardians in the mix for the American League Central division down the stretch. Others will also have to pull their weight, but Bibee appears poised to be a much needed anchor in Cleveland's rotation.