The Cleveland Guardians have gotten out to a hot start in the 2024 MLB season, but the team was dealt some crushing news last month when ace Shane Bieber was lost for the season to undergo Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow.
Now, Bieber's Guardians teammate Austin Hedges is making a shocking admission, saying that he essentially knew during his last start against the Seattle Mariners that Bieber was going to be shut down, per Chris Rose Sports:
Said Hedges, “What he did in Seattle to throw like that. Every single pitch that he threw in the bullpen warming up for that game, was excruciating pain. Tears in his eyes because of the pain in his elbow, and he goes out and dominates a great lineup. ”
When asked if he knew that day that the Guardians were going to shut Bieber down, Hedges replied, “Had a good idea. Maybe I was maybe a little in denial. ‘Let's just get through this game, maybe we can rehab it or something.' But deep down, the reactions that he was having in between each inning, it was clear to me that he was in pretty bad pain. And it was tough to watch your boy just, suffering like that.”
“Baseball will be there,” an emotional Bieber said last month. “I will be here. It's easy to keep things in perspective, like I said, it's just an injury that I'll get past. Like I said, I'm not the first person, I won't be the last. I think one of the things that is a bit more difficult for me is that throughout the offseason and in spring training I did figure some things out and my performance was getting back to the place that I knew I was capable of.”
Guardians winning without Shane Bieber
Despite losing the former Cy Young Award winner, the Guardians have sprinted out to a 33-17 record, good for first place in the American League Central.
However, they have been playing without Steven Kwan lately. The Guardians star has been nursing a hamstring injury and hasn't played since May 4. However, he is trending in the right direction and is headed for a rehab appearance sometime soon.
Even without Kwan for the past two weeks, the Guardians have been able to win games and stay on top of the AL Central.
Steven Kwan was in the midst of a breakout for Guardians. Before the injury, Kwan was rolling on all cylinders. He has a .353 batting average with three home runs, 11 RBI, and 28 runs scored. So, getting him back would be a big boost for Cleveland. In 2023, Kwan hit .268 with five home runs and 54 RBI, so his 2024 numbers were already well on pace to shatter all of those.
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