Bibee off to great start with Clippers
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Tanner Bibee pitching for the Columbus Clippers during a game April 7 against the Charlotte Knights. Photo courtesy of Columbus Clippers.
Tanner Bibee may be on the verge of the Major Leagues. But he’s not thinking that far
ahead.
In his second season of professional ball, the Columbus Clippers right-handed pitcher
isn’t allowing his quick assent get in the way of becoming a better pitcher.
“It’s kind of easy to get caught up in the moment sometimes,” he said. “Social media and hype doesn’t get you to the Major Leagues.”
Bibee is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 11 innings in two starts with Columbus this season
before the team played the Toledo Mud Hens on April 19 and is 10-2 with a 2.00 ERA in
143.2 innings over 27 games, all starts in his career, including stops with the Lake
County Captains in Single-A and Akron RubberDucks in Double-A last season.
He was averaging between 88-92 MPH at Call State Fullerton before being drafted by
the Cleveland Guardians in the fifth round in 2021. Now he’s averaging 93-97 and
hitting 99 on occasion.
So, how did he improve?
“Cleaning up mechanically definitely helped,” Bibee said. “We had a period when we got drafted in 2021 where we just focused on development. From July (2021) until pretty
much the next year where we didn’t (pitch in games). It was kind of nice to not focus on
winning, but how to get more velo and how to get more ride (and work on my) slider
and changeup. (I trained) in the weight room to be a little more explosive, rather than
just strength. That’s what I’d attribute it most to. I can’t really pin it on one thing.”
Those changes led to an increase in velocity for Bibee, who is ranked as the Guardians’
fifth-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
“Everything that he had in different areas, he would do very well,” pitching coach Owen
Dew said. “When you put all of those things together, then you get a Tanner Bibee.”
Dew compared Bibee’s work ethic to former Cleveland great Corey Kluber and current
Guardian Shane Bieber.
“He has a plan every day when he comes to the park and he executes that plan,” said Dew, who held the same position in Akron last season.
“I’m not overly surprised with his transition from Double-A to Triple-A. Traditionally, he’s been a strike-thrower with good stuff. Hopefully, we continue to see that and I think we will as long as he continues to be Tanner Bibee and work the way that I’ve seen him work in the past.”
Tanner Bibee hands the ball to Manager Andy Tracy after a successful outing April 7 against the Charlotte Knights. Photo: Kevin Rouch
Bibee, a native of Mission Viejo, California, credits his parents Shellie and Scott for his
hard work.
“My mom was pretty (rigorous) on me on the school side and my dad was on me
athletically,” he said. “I told me my dad I wanted to be a professional baseball player and he would push me to do that even though some days I didn’t really want to. Every time I fought back with him, he was like, ‘Do you want to be a professional baseball player?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah.’ And he would say, ‘OK, we’re going to do this.’”
Bibee allowed a hit and two walks with eight strikeouts over six innings in his last
appearance in a 16-1 win at Worcester on April 13 to earn Triple-A Player of the Week
honors. The Clippers, who are 8-8 overall, took five of six games in Worcester last week
before a 9-4 loss to the Mud Hens on April 18.
Columbus scored 10 or more runs four times and allowed one run on three occasions
during the road trip.
“I think there’s a combination of things (that led to our start),” manager Andy Tracy
said. “Obviously you gotta get used to playing in (bad) weather. The conditions were not ideal (in Iowa) with cold and wind. It was a three-game set. Coming back here (against Charlotte), we played a pretty good series. I thought we could have won a couple of more.”
Tyler Freeman, who was called up to Cleveland before its April 18 doubleheader at
Detroit, batted .545 (12-for-22) with one home run and seven RBI against Worcester to
earn Triple-A Player of the Week honors.
Micah Pries (.385, 3 HRs, 5 RBIs), Brayan Rocchio (.385, 8 RBIs), Richie Palacios (.370,
2 HRs, 8 RBIs), Zack Collins (.346, 2 HRs, 8 RBIs), Jhonkensy Noel (.304, 2 HRs, 8
RBIs) each got hot last week.
Bibee could follow Freeman and Rocchio, who were recently called up to the Guardians.
Caleb Barager pitched twice in relief last week, going 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 3.2
innings allowing three hits with six strikeouts. He maintains a 0.00 ERA in 8.0 innings
over five games.
“We went on the road (at Worcester) and played really well as a team,” Tracy said. “We
threw the ball well and our situational hitting was really good. We didn’t give away at-
bats. We’re looking to be that way more times than not.”