Shane Bieber joined an exclusive club of Cleveland starting pitchers when he won the American League Cy Young Award in 2020, and he’s poised to add his name to another distinctive list next week.
Guardians manager Terry Francona on Thursday named Bieber the club’s opening day starter in a move that came as no surprise to anybody who has followed the team the last three years. The only thing keeping Francona from announcing the move earlier in training camp was that he wanted to make sure Bieber was ready in light of the abbreviated spring exhibition season.
Bieber will become one of 12 Cleveland pitchers to start three consecutive opening day games when he toes the rubber in Kansas City on April 7. That list includes Corey Kluber, Justin Masterson, C.C. Sabathia, Bartolo Colon and Indians legends such as Gaylord Perry, Stan Covaleski and Bob Feller.