Shane Bieber proved to be one of MLB's best pitchers after winning the 2020 Cy Young award. However, that was now almost four years ago. It's no secret that the past two seasons have not been kind to him in terms of injuries, but Bieber is looking to do something about it.
The Cleveland Guardians' ace refound his fastball velocity in his first spring training start and revealed after his second appearance against the Oakland Athletics that he was also working on a few new pitches as well.
"I worked on a couple of new pitches, didn't show them too much, but got some really great feedback on those pitches in that execution as well ... Changeup. So, there's two strikeouts in the first inning that were on changeups. That's definitely not usually one of my strong suits so I was happy to emphasize and feature that."
The Guardians and Bieber's outing was cut short due to inclement weather, but he still finished with a strong line after 2.0 innings. He had up one hit, allowed one earned run, and walked a batter, but did manage to strike out four hitters too.
Bieber threw his changeup the fewest times (69 pitches / 3.5%) out of any pitch last season. In those matchups, opponents had a .500 batting average while just an 8.3 Whiff% rate.
It was essentially an unused pitch and could be considered new heading into the 2024 season.
Adding this new look to Bieber's mix could be even more effective if he's able to keep his fastball velocity at 93-94 mph. It could also nicely complement his slider which is already proven to be an elite pitch.
The 2024 season will be Bieber's biggest yet. He has just one year left on his contract and is set to become a free agent this fall. If the former Cy Young winner is looking to receive one of the mega deals we've seen given to Gerrit Cole. Zack Wheeler, or Yoshinobu Yamamoto, is going to need to prove he can still perform at a high level.
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