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Bibee

Bibee signed a five-year contract extension before the start, and celebrated it by pitching in an exhibition game. He’ll probably do something fun after. Bibee is set to start Opening Day against the Royals on Thursday.

The deal is official. Bibee, who will make his first-career Opening Day start on Thursday against the Royals, wasn’t set to reach arbitration until 2026 and wouldn’t have hit free agency until 2029. The agreement ostensibly buys out his remaining arbitration-eligible seasons and at least one year of free agency. The 26-year-old righty has recorded a sparkling 3.25 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 328/89 K/BB ratio across 315 2/3 innings (56 starts) over the past two seasons. He’s a surefire top-25 range starting pitcher for fantasy purposes entering the 2025 season.

Bibee will make his first career Opening Day start for Cleveland after Shane Bieber took the ball in each of the last five seasons dating back to 2020. The 26-year-old righty has tossed nine scoreless innings this spring in Cactus League action. He’s a top-30 range starting pitcher for fantasy purposes with the upside to finish inside the top 20 at the position.

Bibee was in midseason form during Monday’s Cactus League nightcap, scattering two baserunners over six strong frames. He struck out four and only handed out one free pass. The 26-year-old righty is locked in as a top-25 range starting pitcher for fantasy purposes this spring.

The 26-year-old right-hander punched out three opposing hitters in the ballgame. He generated three swings and misses on just 37 pitches on the night — two of those on his fastball — while registering a CSW of 30 percent. Bibee’s fastball velocity was down a tick in this one, averaging 93.5 mph after averaging 94.6 mph during the 2024 season, though that can be chalked up to it being his first start of the spring. Bibee’s draft cost continues to hover right around pick 100, putting him inside the top 30 starting pitchers overall.

Bibee is set to make his Cactus League debut exactly three weeks before Opening Day, which gives him plenty of time to be ready for the start of the 2025 regular season. The right-hander was solid in 2024, and as a pitcher that will be 26 for the entirety of the upcoming campaign, it’s certainly possible he can improve on his 3.47 ERA and 187 strikeouts in 173 2/3 innings.

Bibee scuffled in the first inning, but he was able to keep the Yankees off the board thanks in large part to a terrific relay throw from Andres Gimenez — and a bad decision to send Gleyber Torres — on a double by Juan Soto. He settled down very nice through the next four innings, but he made a mistake to Giancarlo Stanton over the plate that tied the game at 2-2 before exiting. Bibee’s season is over, but he should pitch at the top of the Cleveland rotation next year, and has plenty of fantasy relevance for 2025.

Bibee gave up five hits, walked one and struck out two. He was in trouble in both innings that he started. Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto started the game with back-to-back hits before Brayan Rocchio dropped an infield popup to give the Yankees the early lead. Bibee retired the next three hitters without further damage. In the second inning, he allowed an RBI double to Alex Verdugo after back-to-back singles by Anthony Volpe and Anthony Rizzo to start the frame. Torres popped up, but then Bibee was removed after an intentional walk was issued to Juan Soto. With the off day Wednesday, Stephen Vogt wasn’t going to wait around very long for Bibee to find his best stuff. If Cleveland gets back into the series, Bibee is likely to get another start, but if Vogt has his bullpen rested the leash will be short again.

Bibee gave up four hits, walked two and struck out three. The Tigers loaded the bases in the second inning with no outs, but Bibee escaped with only one run scoring as Trey Sweeney hit a sacrifice fly and Jake Rogers lined into a double play. Bibee started the fifth inning, allowed a leadoff home run to Zack McKinstry which tied the game 2-2 and was removed immediately. He was quite as sharp as he was in Game 1 of the series, but still gave the Guardians a solid four innings of work.

Bibee will get the ball after throwing just 76 pitches in Game 1, and will be working with four days of rest because of the off-day between Game 1 and 2. The right-hander was able to fire 4 2/3 scoreless innings in his Game 1 outing.