The Guardians introduced Thursday that right-hander Tanner Bibee has been scratched from his scheduled Opening Day begin as a consequence of acute gastroenteritis (or, the abdomen flu), stories Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. Cleveland will give the nod to fellow right-hander Ben Lively in his place.
It’s an unlucky growth for the lately prolonged Bibee, who’s simply days faraway from signing a five-year, $48M contract extension. It’s unlikely he’ll miss vital time with the sickness, however Opening Day begins are a cherished event for pitchers. Bibee figures to have alternatives sooner or later, however this is able to’ve been his first Opening Day nod. Shane Bieber began for Cleveland in every of the previous two seasons — Bibee’s solely two years within the majors.
On the flip facet, it’s an surprising likelihood for Full of life to additionally get his first profession Opening Day nod. The notion of Full of life as an Opening Day starter would’ve been past far-fetched just some quick years in the past. The now-33-year-old righty pitched just one massive league inning in 2019 and didn’t pitch within the majors in any respect from 2020-22. Full of life spent the 2020-21 season with the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Group, returned to North America on a minor league take care of the Reds, and didn’t make it again to the majors till 2023. He pitched 88 2/3 innings for Cincinnati that 12 months and logged a 5.38 ERA.
The Guardians nonetheless introduced Full of life in on a serious league contract final 12 months, guaranteeing him a $750K wage. He crushed any and all expectations, rattling off 151 innings with a 3.81 earned run common, an 18.7 p.c strikeout charge, a 7.2 p.c stroll charge and a 41.9 p.c ground-ball charge. Full of life misses bats at a effectively below-average degree, however he has sharp command and managed to strand runners at a a lot greater charge than common (78.4 p.c in comparison with league-average 72.1 p.c). He and the Guardians settled on a one-year, $2.25M contract this offseason to keep away from an arbitration listening to.
Bibee and Full of life shall be joined in Cleveland’s rotation by righties Luis Ortiz and Gavin Williams, in addition to southpaw Logan Allen.
