Fansided

Shane Bieber makes Cy Young case loud and clear Wednesday night

By Steven Kubitza

CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 23: Shane Bieber #57 of the Cleveland Indians pitches against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Progressive Field on September 23, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 23: Shane Bieber #57 of the Cleveland Indians pitches against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Progressive Field on September 23, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Shane Bieber had another great start Wednesday night.

Shane Bieber has been a true ace for the Cleveland Indians this season. The 25-year-old made his 12th and final start of the regular season Wednesday night and as expected, the Indians won the game.

Bieber has put together a masterpiece of a season in only 12 starts. He is the only qualified American League starter with an ERA under 2.00 and the only one with over 100 strikeouts. The closest player to Bieber’s mark of 122 is Lucas Giolito with 97.

Wednesday night’s start was actually one of the pitcher’s shortest of the season. However, he did enough in five innings to make him the only choice for Cy Young voters in 2020.

Another easy double-digit strikeout night for Bieber

Bieber capped off his regular season with 10 strikeouts and zero earned runs to get his ERA down to 1.63. The Chicago White Sox lineup stood no chance and all they did was run up the pitch count enough to get the ace out after five innings.

That gave Bieber his eighth start with at least 10 strikeouts. His lowest mark in any game this season was eight, which is still a great night for any pitcher.

A lot of the preseason hype was all about Gerrit Cole and how he would dominate with the New York Yankees. Bieber beats him in every category possible. Lance Lynn appears to be the best competition to the Indians star, but he also fails to best the Indians star in any notable statistic.

The question should not even be about whether Bieber will win the Cy Young Award. The only thing preventing that is voters losing their minds. No, the question now is if he did enough in 12 games to win the MVP Award.

FanGraphs has him tied with teammate Jose Ramirez for the highest WAR in all of baseball at 3.2. Next closest in the AL is Jose Abreu at 2.8. His top competition there is within his own clubhouse.

Next. Jose Ramirez submits MVP case with playoff-clincher. dark

Bieber is a lock to win the Cy Young Award. Wednesday night’s outing drove that point home once again and now voters have to seriously consider him for MVP. The Indians were 10-2 with Bieber on the mound this year and the two losses came on nights when the offense scored one run both times.

Home/Cleveland Guardians