Indians News: Cleveland Catches Bad Break with Shane Bieber Injury Update

While Cleveland Indians ace Shane Bieber isn't having nearly the same dominant season that he put together last year, he's still one of the most reliable pitchers in baseball. With his 3.28 ERA in 14 starts, Bieber leads the majors with 90.2 innings pitched and 130 strikeouts.

Unfortunately for the Indians, it was announced on Monday that Bieber will be heading to the 10-day injured list with a strain in his pitching shoulder. The Seattle Mariners handed Bieber a loss on Sunday afternoon as the 26-year-old ace gave up an unusual 5 earned runs.

Indians are placing Shane Bieber on the injured list with a strain in his right shoulder.
— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) June 14, 2021

Shane Bieber Injury News

The loss seems to make more sense considering Bieber may not have been pitching at 100 percent. It was noted that his fastball velocity was a tick down and some of his breaking pitches didn't have the same punch.

Cleveland is hopeful that a short trip to the IL will be enough time for Bieber to bounce back to full health. After all, he's one of the best pitchers in baseball and took home the 2020 AL Cy Young award after pitching to an MLB-leading 1.63 ERA in 12 starts.

Bieber is a dominant strikeout pitcher, averaging 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings throughout his four-year career, including 12.9 K/9 this season. Right now, the Indians sit in second-place in the AL Central standings with a record of 34-28.

They'll need Bieber at full strength if they want to catch the division-leading Chicago White Sox (41-24). The Indians own +410 odds to win the divisional crown on FanDuel Sportsbook.

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Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.