A holiday with the family, a few trips to unwind, and getting those dreadful wisdom teeth pulled sums up the offseason of Tanner Bibee after he finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2023.
The first-year pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians put together an impressive rookie campaign, but in Bibee's eyes, it was a slow start. He sat down with the Cleveland Guardians Podcast at Guards Fest and reflected on his rookie season and what how he's approaching 2024.
"I think the start, obviously, I had some bumps in the road getting comfortable and trying to get the routine down, but I think when I finally settled in it was really nice. All of the guys around me were awesome trying to get me comfortable and just getting to know those guys I think definitely really helped. Overall, it was a good season but I'm ready to move to '24 at this point."
A little bit of lag is somewhere expected from a pitcher who only made two starts at the Triple-A level.
"I think stuff that I was usually pretty good at, wasn't as good as it could've been. Which, I think anyone could say that, I'm probably being too nit-picky. That's just kind of the goals that I'm setting. Not trying to be too perfect, just trying to improve on the next year."
The rotation will once again be one of the strengths of this Guardians team and Bibee is looking forward to how that will help himself and his teammates raise their ceiling individually.
"We have the makings to be extremely special. I think it's awesome that we all could possibly be so good because I think it helps us feed off each other. I think it really helps us create some healthy competition."
Bibee also joked that 2024 will mark his first Big League Spring Training since he started last season with the Minor League camp. Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Goodyear before we know it with Opening Day soon to follow.
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