Tanner Bibee Succeeding With Greater Sinker Usage

Jul 5, 2026, 1:23 PM ET

Since allowing seven earned runs (five home runs) in three innings in a loss to the Washington Nationals on May 25, Cleveland Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee has leaned more on his sinker, and in his six starts since, he's posted a 2.29 ERA with just eight walks and 28 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings for a 2-2 record. Through his rough outing against the Nats, Bibee's sinker usage was at 15.8%. In his six starts since, he's used it 37.2% of the time as his primary pitch. "The sinker last year, the start of this year," said Bibee, "it was kind of like a surprise pitch. But now it just feels like a real weapon, where I can really lean on it to get quick outs, like I've been getting. Or I still can have guys freeze on it. It opens up a lot of stuff." In his first 13 starts, Bibee's opponents hit .313 against his four-seam fastball, with a 56.1% hard-hit rate, and hit .295 with a 47.8% hard-hit rate against his cutter. In his last six starts, opponents are 1-for-21 against his four-seamer with a 26.7% hard-hit rate and 3-for-28 against his cutter with a 26.1% hard-hit rate. The 27-year-old has slightly tweaked his changeup as well, so that it mimics his cutter more. Fantasy managers have to like what they've seen from Bibee as the second half of the season quickly approaches.--Keith Hernandez
Source: MLB.com - Tim Stebbins