Cleveland Guardians News: Starting Pitcher Joins Franchise Legends in Pitching Lineage

Shane Bieber has been a steady ace for the Cleveland Guardians over the past few seasons and with Tuesday's announcement, he joins an exclusive list of pitchers in organizational history.

Bieber, a two-time All-Star and American League Cy Young Award winner will make his fifth straight Opening Day start dating back to 2020. According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, he will be tied with Corey Kluber (2015-19) and Stan Coveleski (1917-21) for the longest such streak by a pitcher in franchise history.

Other pitchers in the franchise's history to have at least five Opening Day starts under their belt are CC Sabathia and Hall of Famers Bob Lemon and Bob Feller. They didn't start five consecutive and Feller made three of his starts before World War II and four after.

Bieber has been one of the game's best pitchers since 2019. He made his first All-Star Game that year, his second was in 2021. He was the AL Cy Young Award winner for the COVID-shortened 2020 season and won a Gold Glove in 2022.

Bieber dealt with some elbow issues last season and was sidelined from mid-July until September but appears to be healthy this spring and has seen an uptick in his velocity. First-year manager Stephen Vogt was excited to give Bieber the news.

"It was awesome," Vogt told reporters at the Guards' training facility in Goodyear. "It was really cool to do that. Just a smile on his face. It never gets old. I think opening day is really special for players.

"Taking the ball on opening day, I assume never gets old. That's what he said. He said he was excited again. He had a great winter. We all know how good Shane Bieber is. I feel really confident that he's taking the ball."

Bieber is 60-32 with a 3.27 ERA in 134 games, including 132 starts, with Cleveland.

In his four previous Opening Day starts, he's 1-3 with a 1.99 ERA, allowing five earned runs in 22 2/3 innings with four walks and 33 strikeouts.