ARLINGTON, Texas — Cleveland Guardians right-hander Shane Bieber was hoping for the best as he awaited a consultation with Texas Rangers physician Dr. Keith Meister on his inflamed right elbow.
The 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday.
“I’ve been trying to manage it, pitch through it and develop a plan,” Bieber said Sunday. “Ultimately it wasn’t really going away, so I decided it was best to get it checked out and all agreed.”
Cleveland made the IL move retroactive to Wednesday. Bieber was to meet with Meister on Sunday.
Bieber is 5-6 with a 3.77 ERA, including 0-3 with a 5.22 ERA in his past five outings. He said the forearm began bothering him a few weeks ago and became less manageable during his last start on July 9. He pitched 6 1/3 innings against Kansas City and allowed four runs on nine hits in a 4-1 loss.
Bieber said he hasn’t experienced a similar problem in that area of his arm since he was at UC Santa Barbara from 2014-16.
“As a pitcher, things come up all the time,” he said. “You don’t know what exactly what you can go through and what you can’t. Option 1 is always to work through something. Probably the smartest thing for myself and everybody is just to get it checked out.”
The 28-year-old right-hander is a two-time All-Star. He has a $10.01 million salary and is eligible for free agency after the 2024 season.
Bieber joined two other Cleveland starters on the injured list. Cal Quantrill is on the list with right shoulder inflammation and Triston McKenzie is on the 60-day IL with a right elbow sprain. McKenzie has made only two starts this season.