Tanner Bibee, a future Cy Young Award winner? One Guardians teammate believes it is possible

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee has gone from encouraging youngster to ace of their pitching staff in less than two calendar years. It's clear by his performance that Bibee's future is incredibly bright, and he is well on his way toward being mentioned in conversations about the best pitchers in the sport if he hasn't already.

To some, this may seem a bit premature, considering that Bibee is not even 26 years old yet, and his 56 major league starts are far from being a large sample size, but that has not impacted the expectations of one of his teammates.

Guardians' utility man David Fry was recently quoted stating he believes that BIbee could eventually stake his claim to being the best pitcher in the league. "I think he’s a Cy Young winner at some point. He’s that good.", said Fry, later adding, "I think he’s going to be one of the best, if not the best, for a while.”.

This is some pretty high praise from Fry, but it is not undeserved. Bibee was beyond impressive as a rookie in 2023, finishing with a 2.98 ERA, 1.176 WHIP, and 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings pitched en route to a second-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting. With that being said, it is what he did last season that should reinforce anyone's belief in regard to what he may be able to accomplish in his career.

Bibee was forced into being Cleveland's ace by default last season after Shane Bieber was lost for the season after only two starts. This is not an enviable position to be in and not many pitchers are capable of filling Biber's shoes, but Bibee did that and more so. In 31 starts last season, Bibee would compile a 3.47 ERA and 1.117 WHIP, while seeing his K/9 ratio increase to 9.7.

It's clear Bibee was not at all shaken by the situation he found himself in and was able to be the staff ace the Guardians desperately needed. The sky is the limit for Bibee, and do not be surprised if he starts forcing his way into Cy Young consideration as soon as this season.