Shane Bieber’s electric Blue Jays debut should make every Guardians fan cringe 

On Friday, Shane Bieber put together a vintage performance in his season debut. He gave his team length by going six innings. He racked up nine strikeouts. He gave up one run on two hits. 

And, for the first time in his major league career, he took the mound with a team other than the Cleveland Guardians. 

Instead of putting on a show on the mound at Progressive Field, Bieber’s start came as a visitor at LoanDepot Park as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, who acquired him from Cleveland at the trade deadline. 

And even if the Guardians got a solid pitching prospect in return for Bieber in Khal Stephen, Bieber’s start serves as a reminder of what the Guardians lost when they traded the veteran starter to Toronto last month.

Shane Bieber’s electric debut Blue Jays should make every Guardians fan cringe 

Bieber wasted no time getting back into the swing on things on Friday, as he struck out the first two batters he faced. He made Xavier Edwards look foolish on a knuckle curve that plunged out of the strike zone before getting Jakob Marsee on a disgusting changeup. 

Miami’s lone run against him came on a second inning home run from Javier Sanoja at the end of a 10-pitch at-bat. He threw all five of his pitches and recorded at least one whiff with all of him. His slider looked especially sharp, as he recorded seven whiffs on the pitch and didn’t give up a hit on the pitch. 

It’s the kind of performance that Guardians fans got really used to during his time with the Guardians, especially when he put together back-to-back scoreless outings for the Guardians last year before undergoing Tommy John surgery. 

“I was able to fall into a nice little rhythm pretty early tonight, and that’s a big part of pitching, especially for me,” Bieber said after the game, per MLB.com’s Steve Gorten. “It felt very familiar. I was happy with how everything felt. It didn’t feel foreign whatsoever.”

While Slade Cecconi had a solid start for the Guardians on Friday (two earned runs allowed in six innings), it ended up being for naught due to the Guardians’ bullpen blowing another game. 

But even if Bieber’s start was a tough watch for fans throughout Northeast Ohio, the Guardians still have time on their side when it comes to their opportunity to “win” the trade thanks to Stephen. 

The 22-year-old was ranked as one of Toronto’s top pitching prospects prior to the trade deadline, and is set to make his organizational debut for the Guardians this weekend. 

That feels like cold comfort right now thanks to Bieber's strong debut. And, with the Blue Jays essentially a lock to make the postseason, that feeling isn't going to go away any time soon.