Tanner Bibee validates Guardians ace status by going toe to toe with Jacob deGrom

It’s official: Tanner Bibee is back to being the Guardians’ ace. 

On Tuesday, Bibee showcased just how far he’s come this season by matching Jacob deGrom pitch for pitch in the Guardians’ 4-2 loss to the Rangers. 

While that may just be one start, it closes out a June where he posted a 1.89 ERA in 33 1/3 innings. That’ll play. 

To be clear, calling Bibee the Guardians ace isn’t meant to take anything away from what Parker Messick or Gavin Williams have done this season. They’ve largely been everything the Guardians have asked for and helped stabilize the rotation early in the season while Bibee worked through his struggles. 

But now Bibee has taken over the top spot in Cleveland’s rotation and is showing why Cleveland’s front office chose to give him a five-year, $48 million contract last spring. 

Tanner Bibee gives the Guardians an advantage every time he’s on the mound 

It’s hard to believe that we’re here with Bibee considering how his season started. It got off to an ominous start when he left his Opening Day start after five innings due to right shoulder inflammation, and he ended May with a 4.57 ERA. 

But something clicked after that, as he opened June by tossing eight scoreless innings against the same Rangers club that he handcuffed on Tuesday. 

Although his June output featured one rough start against the Astros, he also had a start where he allowed two runs in seven innings against the Tigers along with six scoreless innings against the White Sox. 

While he allowed two runs against the Rangers on Tuesday (which came in the form of a Joc Pederson homer), his start against Texas may be the most impressive of the bunch considering it came in 91 degree heat on a day where it looked like the ball was going to fly out of the park. 

Although he allowed plenty of fly balls, the Rangers only managed to record three balls with an exit velocity of 100+ miles per hour against him. The best way for a pitcher to keep the ball in the park is by limiting the amount of hard contact they give up, and Bibee was able to do that. 

While Bibee took the tough luck loss thanks in large part to Cooper Ingle brining in the go-ahead run when he tossed the ball in the stands with just two outs, that doesn’t take away from the dominance of his performance.

On the other side, Rangers ace Jacob deGrom also allowed two runs over seven innings, though his outing came with seven strikeouts compared to Bibee’s two.

Even if deGrom was the pitcher who recorded a victory and Bibee was the pitcher who recorded a loss on Tuesday, Bibee matched the future Hall of Famer pretty much pitch for pitch.

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