Guardians' Shane Bieber Placed on 15-Day IL with Elbow Injury amid Trade Rumors

The Cleveland Guardians placed ace starting pitcher Shane Bieber on the 15-day injured list Saturday with elbow inflammation, according to MLB.com's Mandy Bell.

Per the Associated Press, Guardians manager Terry Francona said Friday that Bieber would miss his scheduled start against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday due to a forearm issue.

Francona added:

"About the last month, his forearm's been kind of irritable. We thought he was trending in the right direction. About three starts there, we kept him to about 80 pitches. But the last couple, he wasn't real comfortable with the way he's been bouncing back.

"So, we got him an MRI today, and we're trying to have him see [Texas Rangers orthopedist Keith] Meister at some point [Saturday]."

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported last week that Bieber was generating trade interest, but Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted Saturday that the trade rumors can be "put to rest" now that Bieber requires an IL stint.

The 28-year-old Bieber is a two-time All-Star in six MLB seasons, and he has consistently been among the best starters in the league since his debut.

In 132 career appearances, including 130 starts, Bieber is 59-32 with a 3.26 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 926 strikeouts over 820 innings pitched.

His best season to date came in 2020, which was the COVID-shortened, 60-game campaign. In 12 starts, Bieber went 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 122 strikeouts over 77.1 innings. He won the American League's pitching Triple Crown, as well as the AL Cy Young award.

Injuries limited Bieber to just 16 starts in 2021, but he bounced back to start 31 games in 2022, posting a 2.88 ERA. Bieber had been healthy this season, leading the AL with 19 starts before getting placed on the IL.

While Bieber has been solid this season, he has not been his dominant self, going 5-6 with a 3.77 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and just 95 strikeouts in 117 innings.

Bieber's ERA and WHIP are his highest since his rookie year in 2018, and his strikeout rate of 7.3 per nine innings is the worst of his career by far.

The drop in strikeouts is perhaps the most alarming stat of all for Bieber, as it suggests that his stuff this season is nowhere near as good as it was in past years.

Despite being just 45-46, the Guardians are in the thick of the playoff race, trailing the Minnesota Twins by just a half-game for first place in the wide-open AL Central.

Losing Bieber for a significant amount of time would be a huge blow to the Guardians' playoff chances, though, especially with their other top starting pitcher in Triston McKenzie having missed all but two starts this season due to injury.

With Bieber, McKenzie and Cal Quantrill all on the IL, it leaves Aaron Civale and rookies Logan Allen and Tanner Bibee as the anchors of the starting rotation.

That means the Naylor brothers, José Ramírez, Andrés Giménez and Co. may be looked up to put up big numbers offensively until Cleveland can get healthier on the pitching side.