Guardians ace Bieber uncertain about future
Tommy John surgery will keep hurler off the mound for the rest of the season
Shane Bieber held it together for as long as he could.
The Cleveland Guardians ace has spent the past few days trying to process his new reality: Tommy John surgery and not pitching again this season.
It's been harder than he imagined.
His voice choked with emotion, Bieber paused while speaking to reporters for the first time since deciding to have the surgery, a procedure that will end his 2024 season.
Bieber, who missed more than two months last season with elbow issues, somehow gutted out two starts — 12 scoreless innings and 20 strikeouts against Oakland and Seattle — before succumbing to pain.
He's now suffering in a different way, and Bieber is still struggling to accept that he has to move forward.
“Baseball will be there,” the 2020 Cy Young winner said, speaking softly. “I will be here. It's easy to keep things in perspective. It's just an injury that I'll get past. I'm not the first person, won't be the last. One of the things that is a bit more difficult for me is that throughout the off-season and in spring training, I did figure some things out and my performance was getting back to the place that I knew I was capable of.
“I was falling back in love with pitching, and I was having a lot of fun.”
Bieber hasn't yet scheduled the surgery, but intends to have it done as soon as possible so he can begin a lengthy rehab and recovery. Bieber's future in Cleveland is cloudier than ever. The 28-year-old is in his final year under contract. The Guardians previously offered him a long-term contract, but Bieber had been reluctant to sign, in hopes of cashing in as a free agent. The team considered trading him before his elbow flared up last season, and that seemed to be a possible scenario this year.
Now, nothing is certain.
It's a very real elephant in the room ... you can't control some of these things. So we do what we can. We stay positive.
“It's a very real elephant in the room, so to speak,” Bieber said. “It's unfortunate the timing of everything, but as athletes, you can't control some of these things. So we do what we can. We stay positive.
“I've got an amazing support system with my family, with my teammates, with everybody around here, and I'm excited to keep my head down, move forward, and it's easy to keep things in perspective. Things could be a lot worse, I'll put it that way.”