Guardians ace gets emotional while saying goodbye to 2024 season

This wasn't the way Cleveland Guardian's ace Shane Bieber saw his 2024 season going.

A two-time All-Star and Cy Young Award winner, Bieber was expected to be in contention for the Cy Young again this season. Two games into 2024, he looked the part as well. He pitched six innings in both of his outings, boasting a 2-0 record and a zero ERA.

But Bieber wasn't able to continue through elbow pain, which was an issue that started last season.

After start No. 2, despite looking great, the 28-year-old decided to shut it down. Now he's headed for Tommy John surgery, which means playing baseball in 2024 is no longer an option.

Bieber got emotional while speaking to the media about the decision.

"Baseball will be there. I will be here. It's easy to keep things in perspective. It's just an injury that I'll get past," Bieber defiantly said, per ESPN. "I'm not the first person, won't be the last. One of the things that is a bit more difficult for me is that throughout the offseason and in spring training, I did figure some things out and my performance was getting back to the place that I knew I was capable of. I was falling back in love with pitching, and I was having a lot of fun."

That's a tough pill to swallow for anyone, let alone a high-level player. It had to have been made even worse by the creeping dread of reality. Bieber revealed that he felt the pain during his Opening Day start and while he tried to work through it, he knew that if the pain persisted in his second start, there would be a real problem.

Bieber told the media that his elbow was an issue "from warm-up one to pitch 83", describing the realization that something was truly wrong as "an emotional time."

Now the only question is whether or not Bieber will be able to make a full comeback. And the fact that this is the last year on his contract only adds pressure to the situation.

"It's a very real elephant in the room, so to speak," Bieber said of his contract. "It's unfortunate the timing of everything, but as athletes, you can't control some of these things. So we do what we can. We stay positive.

"I've got an amazing support system with my family, with my teammates, with everybody around here, and I'm excited to keep my head down, move forward, and it's easy to keep things in perspective. Things could be a lot worse, I'll put it that way."