Guardians Skipper on Tanner Bibee Decision in Loss to Astros

Tanner Bibee's 2026 season has been a roller coaster, to put it lightly. His actual stats don't match the expected numbers, and the Cleveland Guardians' offense has still struggled to give the starting pitcher any sort of run support.

During Cleveland's series opener against the Houston Astros on Friday evening, Bibee was cruising through the opponent's lineup, but found himself in some trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Bibee walked the lead-off batter, then Isaac Peredes singled, allowing Yordan Alvarez to score, making it a one-run ballgame.

Instead of letting Bibee get out of the jam, manager Stephen Vogt decided to turn the game to his bullpen. Cleveland's skipper brought in Matt Festa, who immediately gave up a three-run home run to Jose Altuve. 

The Astros didn't look back after that, scoring seven unanswered runs, leading them to a 9-3 victory.

Taking Bibee out was definitely a controversial move at the time, especially since Altuve had already struck out twice in the game. Deciding to bring in Festa instead of another high-leverage reliever was a questionable move in itself.

After the game, Vogt explained he took out Bibee because, "Just the pitch count; 95 with two on in the 6th.

"Matt Festa has been outstanding all year coming in that fireman pivot role. And just mislocation to Altuve, and a couple others, and Matt just had a tough night.”

When asked about whether Vogt considered Bibee's two strikeouts against Altuve, Cleveland's skipper said, "you consider everything. I mean, we're talking through all of those different scenarios. At the same time, when you see somebody for the third time, it's tough. Like I said, our bullpen has been phenomenal, and coming in and putting out fires, it just didn't happen tonight.”

When Bibee was asked about the situation after the game, he stood by his manager's decision.

“Obviously, I want to stay out there, but like I've said before, it's Vogter’s job to tell me what I'm done, and he told me I was done," the pitcher said.

"I mean, obviously I want to go out there. If it was my decision, I'd probably throw 150 pitches, which is not smart, so I mean that's why Vogter is there."

Of course, hindsight is 20-20, and if Festa did get out of the inning, no one is questioning the move. 

However, considering how Bibee had been pitching and his previous success against Altuve, it's hard not to imagine what the outcome could have been if Cleveland's starter had been left out for one more hitter. 

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