The Cleveland Guardians have been without their two best pitchers, Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie, for multiple weeks.
Both of them have had elbow problems: McKenzie has dealt with an elbow sprain, and Bieber with inflammation in the area.
Their absence has affected the team’s chances of returning to the playoffs even if pitching is not the organization’s main problem.
They have been missed dearly, but both received good news on Tuesday.
“Terry Francona says Shane Bieber will start Tuesday. for Double-A Akron. Bieber set to go 3 innings or 55 pitches. Triston McKenzie will start Wednesday., also for AKR. McKenzie could throw fewer pitches/innings because he is behind where Bieber is in his progression, per Tito,” reporter Joe Noga tweeted.
Terry Francona says Shane Bieber will start Tuesday. for Double-A Akron. Bieber set to go 3 innings or 55 pitches. Triston McKenzie will start Wednesday., also for AKR. McKenzie could throw fewer pitches/innings because he is behind where Bieber is in his progression, per Tito.
— Joe Noga (@JoeNogaCLE) September 12, 2023
According to Noga’s report, Bieber should be the first one to return since he is a bit closer to being 100 percent stretched out, but McKenzie is not far behind.
The one problem is that it might be too late now.
The Minnesota Twins are up 7.5 games in the AL Central standings.
At this point, it would take a miracle for the 68-77 Guardians to make the postseason.
Their offense is just not good enough, and has been mediocre for a while.
Losing Josh Naylor for an extended period of time also didn’t help, even though he has returned.
By the time Bieber and McKenzie are healthy enough to help the big league team, there is a good chance the Guardians have already run out of time and games.
It doesn’t hurt to try, though.
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