After 13 straight starts without a win, Cleveland Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee finally adds a "W" to his 2026 season record.
Heading into Saturday night against the Texas Rangers, Tanner Bibee had made 13 starts on the season and had covered 69.0 innings for the Cleveland Guardians.
However, even in June, Bibee had yet to pick up a win on his resume. He became the first pitcher in club history without a win after their first 13 starts of the season.
As manager Stephen Vogt had mentioned in the past, wins and losses for a pitcher in today’s game are far from a key indicator as to how a pitcher is performing.
As in Bibee’s case, the biggest thing that had kept him from earning a victory was something completely out of his control: run support. Bibee had received one or fewer runs of support in 10 of his 13 starts, and his 1.84 RSA was by far the lowest in the big leagues.
The good news is that everything changed for Bibee against the Rangers. Not only did Cleveland’s starter put together one of the best outings of his career, but the offense finally gave him some support, leading to Bibee's first win of the season.
Starting with Bibee, he really did put together an outstanding start. He pitched 8.0 innings, gave up just three hits, didn’t allow a single run, issued two walks, and gave up three hits, all on 87 pitches.
Jun 6, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee (28) pitches in the second inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images“It seemed like from the first inning on, he just kept attacking, kept making pitches when he needed to, never really got into big trouble. Just really limited them to weak contact and quick outs. So phenomenal job," said Vogt of Bibee’s start.
While Bibee was throwing the ball as well as he was, Cleveland’s lineup finally found its stride with him on the mound.
Thanks to home runs from Jose Ramirez and Brayan Rocchio, along with a series of base hits by Chase Delauter, Kyle Manzardo, and Daniel Schneemann, the Guardians found themselves with a five-run lead in the fifth inning and never looked back.
Even though Bibee finally got a “W” in the win column, he still downplayed the overall importance of it.
“Like I said, no one in this locker room [talks about it],” said Bibee after the game.
“Like obviously we want to win the game and... but like it's probably one of the most useless stats in baseball. Obviously, I think team wins are more important.”
As Cleveland’s pitcher noted, there are many better indicators of a team’s success than a pitcher’s record. It just so happens that on Saturday, everything was clicking for the Guardians, allowing Bibee to get that first win of the season.
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