New Arrival: Tanner Bibbee, sp, Cleveland Guardians
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Tanner Bibee visited Hawaii twice while he was pitching at Cal State Fullerton. And of course, I never got him. The problem is I assumed that I had. But when I was going through my collection, nope. Nothing. This stings considering Bibee has become one of the best pitching prospects in the organization. So I spent the last week scrambling to find some. This is what I was able to get. I am happy, but still a bummer.
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Bibee’s development is a testament to the Cleveland organization’s ability to successfully develop pitchers. When he was at Cal State Fullerton he was a solid pitcher and MLB draft prospect, but nothing about his numbers screamed future MLB #1 starter. His senior year he went 6-6 with a 3.61 ERA, striking out 67 and walking 21 over 89.2 innings. He had three pitches, good command, and the ceiling of a 3rd or 4th starter. Cleveland took him in the 5th round of the 2021 draft.
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On April 26th 2023, Tanner Bibbee made his first major league start. He came into the game as the team’s top pitching prospect–and arguably the team’s #1 overall prospect, right up there with Gavin Williams and Daniel Espino.
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Clearly, the Cleveland front office saw something they could develop in Bibbee’s toolbox and successfully developed him. Prior to his call-up, he was pitching like a future top-of-the-rotation army in AAA, with a 2-0 record and 1.76 ERA/1.04 WHIP.
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Tanner Bibbee’s first MLB would end up being spectacular: against the Colorado Rockies, he went 5.2 innings, allowed 6 hits, 8 K’s, and no walks. He allowed one earned run, and the win, in a 4-1 victory.