Cleveland Guardians' All-Star Pitcher Lands Unsettling Prediction

The Cleveland Guardians have been awaiting the return of starting pitcher Shane Bieber, who underwent Tommy John surgery last April and has been sidelined ever since.

Bieber is the ace of the Guardians' staff, so if he is able to get back on the mound with a clean bill of health relatively soon, Cleveland's rotation will suddenly be in much better shape.

But when can the Guardians expect Bieber to return? Will it happen soon? Maybe before the Alll-Star break?

Well, famed Cleveland broadcaster Bruce Drennan provided his own prediction for Bieber this week, and while Drennan is trying to be positive, he didn't seem entirely sure exactly when the right-hander would retake the bump.

"He’s doing well in his rehab, but I don’t think we can anticipate until sometime in June, and that’s optimistic," Drennan said. "... We don’t have a timeline exactly for him because he’s going to have to pitch some minor-league games, but I would think sometime in June probably."

Of course, if Bieber comes back in June, it would be fantastic. That's next month, after all, and it would be just in time for the Guardians to truly assess where they are ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.

But Drennan was obviously very hesitant to offer an exact return timeline, and the fact that he feels June is "optimistic" is definitely unsettling.

At this point, all Cleveland can do is trust the process and work Bieber along slowly.

Bieber, who turns 30 years old later this month, is a two-time All-Star and has a Cy Young award under his belt, which he captured during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

The Orange, Ca. native last pitched a full season in 2022, when he went 13-8 with a 2.88 ERA over 31 starts. That represented only the second time he achieved 30 starts since entering the big leagues back in 2018.

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