Cleveland Guardians ace Shane Bieber was slated to be on the mound Monday for his first home opener start for Cleveland with fans in the crowd. Now, after multiple consultations on some pain he recently started experiencing, that won't be the case. Instead, he'll soon undergo surgery, the team said Saturday.
Bieber opened the season on the mound for the Guardians in Oakland and started again in Seattle on Tuesday. After those starts, the pitcher started feeling pain in his right elbow, the same elbow he had previously injured last year.
Team physicians took imaging of Bieber's elbow, which confirmed the presence of a re-injury to his proximal ulnar collateral ligament, according to the team.
Because it's a re-injury that he had rested and rehabilitated previously, doctors recommended surgical reconstruction of the ligament, also known as Tommy John Surgery. The typical recovery time for that surgery is 12-18 months.
Bieber and the Guardians are in the process of coordinating surgery with Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas.
"We feel for Shane. Shane has done everything possible in his power to try to get back and pitch and help our team, and those efforts extended back to last year and the work he put in the rehab process and he really put in a ton of work this winter and throughout spring training and we all felt he was on a good path to stay healthy and contribute for the balance of the season," said Guardians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti. "Ultimately, when he got back into games and faced the stress of the Major League environment, it just was too much for him. And he's devastated by it."
With Bieber out, Antonetti said that Logan Allen will move up a day and get the start on Monday for the team's home opener at Progressive Field.
The team is still evaluating options for the long-term pitching rotation plan. With Stephen Vogt, the new manager, leading the way, the Guardians plan to rally through this roster hit, understanding that losing Bieber won't be easy on them.
"We are a resilient group and we found ways to overcome obstacles and injuries in the past," Antonetti said. "And I believe that the group that we have will be able to come together and find a way to help us continue to win games, but it certainly will be harder to do without a healthy Shane."
Bieber is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
