3 days agoCleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee looked inconsistent early in 2024 before rounding into stellar form from mid-May on. The right-hander walked five in the season opener and proceeded to never issue more than three free passes in an outing again, but still carried a 4.91 ERA and 44:13 K:BB after eight starts. Bibee would warm up with the weather and turn in a 3.04 ERA (143:31 K:BB) over his final 23 outings, 15 of which came with one or zero walks. Over that span, he induced a robust 13 percent pop-up rate on top of being a fly-ball pitcher (45 percent) that avoided barrels (5.6 percent). He made some marked changes in throwing his slider-turned-cutter nearly two ticks faster as the season progressed, introducing a sweeper (Statcast may classify it as a slider) in that 12-strikeout game against Seattle, toying with a curveball, as well as widening the gap between his fastball and changeup velocities. While the A.L. Central around him should be better than last year, it is still a weak division. And Bibee's bullpen is one of the best at taking a lead and securing the win. His ATC projection of a 3.71 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with 180 strikeouts in 171 frames paint great value around his NFBC ADP of 105, aligning with the top-100 RotoBaller rank.--Nick Mariano - RotoBaller