Shane Bieber is about to be a free agent. He missed most of the past two years recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he’s been with the Blue Jays less than three months after a trade deadline deal from the Cleveland Guardians. He’s 30 years old, a Cy Young winner, and a two-time All-Star.
And tonight he’s tasked with going toe-to-toe with Shohei Ohtani to keep the Blue Jays from the edge of elimination.
Bieber did much of his rehab with the Guardians, but he made his regular season debut with the Blue Jays on August 22. His three playoff starts have been up-and-down: lasted 2 2/3 innings in Game 3 of the division series, then pitched a strong six-plus innings in Game 3 of the ALCS, before allowing seven hits in 3 2/3 innings of Game 7.
At his best, Bieber is one of the better starting pitchers of this era, and this is the first World Series start of his career. Here are his numbers.
Career: 141 starts, 3.24 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 10.1 K/9, 2.0 BB/9
Regular season: 7 starts, 3.57 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 8.3 K/9, 1.6 BB/9
Postseason: 3 starts, 4.38 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 11.0 K/9, 2.2 BB/9