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Shane Bieber 2022 Player Outlook: Former Cy Young Winner Looks Set To Dominate Again
3 years agoFollowing his Cy Young winning season in 2020, Shane Bieber was on track to potentially make it back-to-back awards. Unfortunately, a June shoulder injury saw Bieber miss more than three months of the season and he only managed two starts totaling six innings in late September. He finished the season with a 3.17 ERA from 96.2 IP and 134 K's with a 33.1% K%. No one expected a repeat of his 1.63 ERA from the shortened 2020 season but last year's numbers were in line with what he's put up throughout his career. Bieber has compiled 503.0 IP in MLB with a 3.29 ERA, 3.00 xFIP and 3.20 SIERA. Since 2018, 30 pitchers have thrown 500+ innings and only four have a better strikeout rate than Bieber's 30.9% K%. His 28.8% K%-BB% since 2020 is third-best among all pitchers with at least 150 IP. A lack of news regarding Bieber's health during the lockout likely suppressed his ADP, but Bieber appears fully healthy for Spring Training and should be back in the hunt of being a top-three SP in fantasy this year. With an ADP of ~32, Bieber is currently the ninth pitcher being taken in drafts and if he can put up similar numbers to what he's managed so far in his career, Bieber should be able to provide plenty of value.
