Commentary: Guardians rookie Tanner Bibee off to star-studded start

Ok, this is officially starting to get interesting. The numbers from Guardians rookie pitcher Tanner Bibee's first two major league starts: Record: 1-0; ERA: 2.45; innings pitched: 11; hits allowed: 10; strikeouts: 13; walks: zero; batters faced: 43; opponents' batting average: .238. The numbers from the first two major league starts by Cleveland's last two Cy Young Award winners: Shane Bieber (2018) Record: 1-0; ERA: 3.97; innings pitched: 11 1/3; hits allowed: 18; strikeouts: 13; walks: 2; batters faced: 51; opponents' batting average: .367. Corey Kluber (2012) Record: 0-0; ERA: 6.10; innings pitched: 10 1/3; hits allowed: 15; strikeouts: 7; walks: 4; batters faced: 49; opponents' batting average: .333. Welcome to the headquarters of the National Association of Small Sample Size, yours truly, proprietor. I'll be your host for the next few minutes, which may or may not turn out to be something. On the other hand, it might turn out to be not just something, but something big. Don't take my word for it. Take Terry Francona's. "He competed, he throws all his pitches for strikes," said Francona after Bibee threw BB's past Yankee hitters for five-plus innings Tuesday night. "There's a lot to like about this kid. We're going to enjoy watching, to see how good he can get." Two starts into his major league career, Bibee looks like a pitcher worth watching. He was great in his first major league start a week ago in Cleveland. But if you were purposely trying to unnerve a rookie pitcher, in his second major league start, you'd take him to New York to start a game in the current iteration of the world's most famous ballyard, Yankee Stadium. You know, the house that Ruth built, the one that frequently turns inexperienced opposing pitchers into insecure puddles of self-doubt. But not Bibee. Bibee passed his test, further igniting the pulses of those of us in the business of overreacting to small sample sizes. Granted, the Yankee lineup Bibee faced was missing its two biggest lumberjacks, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, but it was still Yankee Stadium. It was still a major league game and it was still only the second start of Bibee's major league career. It also looked a lot like Bibee's major league debut a week ago, in Cleveland, against the Colorado Rockies, when, in 5 1/3 innings, 60 of the 91 pitches Bibee threw were strikes and none of the 91 were called ball four. There are seasoned major league pitchers who don't consistently check those boxes. Bibee has come roaring out of the Guardians' vaunted minor-league pitching factory filling up the strike zone with a variety of pitches, none of which arrive at home plate belt high, over the middle of the plate, screaming, "hit me!" Just two starts into his major league career, the 24-year-old Bibee looks and pitches like a veteran who has been around for years, even though he's only been around for two starts. His control and command of the strike zone is outrageous for someone who, a year ago at this time, for the Lake County Captains, was dominating hitters (13.1 strikeouts per nine innings) in the high Class-A Midwest League. Now Bibee is in the major leagues and making it look just as easy — if not easier. In Kluber's first two major league starts, he walked four. In Bieber's first two major league starts, he walked two. In Bibee's first two major league starts, he faced 43 batters AND DIDN'T WALK ANYONE! Watching Bibee vs. the Yankees the other night — and this is going to sound crazy — his variety of pitches looked just as lethal as Kluber's, but with more velocity. No, really. I'd bet my National Association of Small Sample Size membership card on it. If there is a common denominator between Kluber and Bieber, and perhaps eventually Bibee, it's that there was no waiting for them to look like they belonged; that they were the real deal, capable of doing big things. They started dealing as soon as they reached the big leagues, and never looked back. Well, Kluber probably did, but that was when he was, and apparently still is, reaching the end of his two-Cy-Young-Award career. Bieber already has one Cy Young, and, just now entering what should be the peak of his career, could become a multiple Cy Young winner. Bibee? Who knows? As a former Browns coach who now lives in New England once famously said, "We can only go by what we see." What we saw from Kluber was borderline Hall of Fame greatness. What we've seen from Bieber is peak Kluber-like potential. What we've seen in two starts from Bibee is enough to excite the rank and file of the National Association of Small Sample Size. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com.