The Cleveland Indians have had an incredible amount of success turning homegrown pitchers into successful MLB starters in recent years. And the latest exciting pitching talent to burst onto the scene is 24-year-old right-hander Tanner Bibee. The young strikeout artist had his debut on Wednesday afternoon, turning in a successful outing against the lowly Colorado Rockies. Now, the Tanner Bibee fantasy baseball buzz is real, with many owners flocking to roster the young phenom.
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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds: Is Tanner Bibee Worth a Roster Spot?
Tanner Bibee carved through the Rockies, allowing just one run on six hits over 5.2 innings of work on Wednesday. He struck out eight batters while walking none.
“I thought he was tremendous,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said, per the MLB webiste. “To see him show the poise and the competitiveness, and three pitches, four pitches, it does get exciting. I don’t think there’s any reason to hide it.”
For Bibee, the debut was just a continuance of his success at Triple-A, where he pitched to the tune of a 1.76 ERA over his first two starts. Bibee currently ranks as the fifth top prospect in the Guardians’ system and the No. 59 overall prospect on MLB Pipeline.
The debut could not have gone much better for Bibee, but those fantasy baseball owners flocking to put him on the squad should know that there is no guarantee he stays on the Guardians’ roster for too much longer. Cleveland has five starters healthy, bringing Bibee up for a spot start on Wednesday.
However, Bibee’s productive debut will likely give the Giardians’ brass a lot to think about given the struggles Zac Plesac and Peyton Battenfield have endured in the early going of the season. After Wednesday’s start, Francona indicated that we’d see Bibee stick with Cleveland for (at least) one more start.
“My guess is he’ll stay with us and we’ll figure out what to do as we move forward,” Francona said.
Bibee’s next start certainly won’t be as easy as his debut, with Cleveland set to go to Yankee Stadium for a series with the New York Yankees next week. Throwing Bibee out there against one of the best offenses in the game should give the team a true sense of whether or not he is ready to handle the MLB workload, but it also presents fantasy baseball owners with a difficult decision.
Bibee has all the makings of a fantasy stud, but may not be the best option to take a pitching spot given the next matchup. The Tanner Bibee fantasy baseball outlook shows the top prospect should be rostered in all leagues given the potential, but it is possible that players will have to wait until later on in the season before he becomes a valuable play.
Fantasy players looking for the best projections should be sure to check out Stokastic’s fantasy and DFS projections page for help on all difficult lineup decisions!
