Shane Bieber decided that a dazzling Opening Day performance was not good enough and struck out another 13 batters in his second start of the season on Thursday afternoon.
The Indians clearly have their ace. Bieber gave the Indians eight innings of shutout, dominant baseball and gave stud closer James Karinchak a solid two-run lead to work within the ninth.
All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor provided the only offense needed for the Cleveland Indians on Thursday. Lindor hit a 409-foot two-run home run to right field and gave the team a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning that they would never relinquish.
But just exactly how good was Shane Bieber tonight? Well, let’s see.
There’s this:
Shane Bieber has tied the record (since 1901) for most strikeouts through two starts. He has 27.
— Devan Fink (@DevanFink) July 31, 2020
And this:
Strikeouts this year
27 Shane Bieber
26 Detroit Tigers' starters
23 Kansas City Royals' starters
22 Minnesota Twins' starters
15 Chicago White Sox's starters— Max Goldstein (@MaxSportsStudio) July 31, 2020
Oh, and this:
Shane Bieber has faced 50 batters in two starts this season. He has struck out 27 of them, walking just 1.
That is a 54 K% and a 2 BB%.
Bieber has a -0.36 FIP. He has not allowed a run.
— Devan Fink (@DevanFink) July 31, 2020
Although Bieber may be really good, the Indians’ pitching staff as a whole is also incredibly dominant:
Shane Bieber just notched his 10th strikeout tonight.
Cleveland is now the first team ever to have starters strike out 10+ batters 4 times through the first 7 games. pic.twitter.com/VK2mB3hTKa
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) July 31, 2020
Most predictions at the start of the season had the Minnesota Twins as the clear favorite. After setting record after record in 2019 with their power bats and offensive prowess, the Twins may have to be on the lookout for a well-rounded Indians squad.
The Indians and Twins will face off again Friday night with Cleveland’s Mike Clevinger going up against Minnesota’s Randy Dobnak.
