The 2025 MLB Opening Day is less than a week away. But before that, the Cleveland Guardians gave their Opening Day starter Tanner Bibee something to be inspired by, and it came in the form of a five-year contract extension, reportedly worth at least $48 million.
“I feel like I just sit and keep going,” Bibee said when asked for his viewpoint on his signing a new contract (h/t Andre Knott of Fox 8 News).
“I mean, I wasn’t really necessarily a super high pick out of the draft. I mean, I feel like I kind of really leaned into what Cleveland kind of develops into. And I feel like it was obviously very mutually beneficial. And I feel like I got to a point where I kind of was able to blossom a little bit, I think, in 2022. So I think I’ve just kind of used that from here on out.”
Tanner Bibee, who just turned 26 years old earlier this March, was a fifth-round pick by the Guardians in the 2021 MLB draft. He made his debut in the big leagues in the 2023 campaign in which he went 10-4 with an impressive 2.98 ERA and a 143 ERA+ through 25 starts.
Bibee regressed the following season, going 12-8 on the mound while posting a 3.47 ERA with a 117 ERA+. So far in this MLB career, Bibee has a 2.7 percent home run rate and a 26.3 percent strikeout rate, per Baseball Reference.
According to MLB Trade Rumors, Bibbe’s newest deal with the Guarduans is the “third-most money ever given to a pitcher with between two years and two years and 171 days of service time.”
With Shane Bieber still on the mend from a Tommy John surgery, Bibbe is expected to anchor the Guardians’ rotation that also features the likes of Ben Lively, Gavin Williams, Logan Allen and Luis Ortiz. In the 2024 MLB season, the Guardians finished just 24th in the big leagues with a 4.49 ERA and 24th with a 4.51 ERA.
Bibee will get to showcase his stuff right from the get-go of the 2025 season, as he is expected to start for the Guardians on Opening Day this coming Thursday when Cleveland kicks off a three-game series on the road at Kauffman Stadium versus Bobby Witt Jr. and the Kansas City Royals.
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