Shane Bieber
Bieber's 2020 Cy Young season remains one of the most dominant pitching performances of the modern era, posting a microscopic 1.63 ERA with an ERA+ of 272 — meaning he was nearly three times better than league average. That 60-game campaign showcased peak command that few pitchers ever reach.
The concerning part? Bieber hasn't come close to replicating that magic since. His career 3.24 ERA and 143 ERA+ still mark him as well above average, but the gap between his peak and current performance tells the story of a pitcher searching for his former brilliance.
At 31, Bieber's 995 career strikeouts in just 883 innings demonstrate his swing-and-miss stuff remains intact. The question isn't whether he can still pitch effectively — it's whether he can rediscover the elite command that made him briefly untouchable.
Career · Batting
3 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | — | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2019 | — | 34 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2021 | — | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Career | 70 | 15 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.