Shane Bieber

Lore & Background

Shane Robert Bieber was born on May 31, 1995, in Orange, California. He attended Laguna Hills High School in Laguna Hills, California. Bieber's pitch speed reached the mid-80s as a junior and his command was very strong. He was recruited to play college baseball at University of California, Santa Barbara as a walk-on and did not receive much attention from many other programs. As a high school senior in 2013, he pitched to an 8–4 record with a 1.40 ERA. After graduating in 2013, Bieber enrolled at the University of California, Santa Barbara where he played for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos baseball team as a walk-on. He earned a scholarship by his sophomore year. In 2014, he played collegiate summer baseball in the West Coast League for the Cowlitz Black Bears. In 2015, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. In 2016, his junior year, he went 12–4 with a 2.74 ERA in 18 starts. Bieber was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the fourth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft. Bieber signed and made his professional debut with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, where he spent the whole season, posting a 0.38 ERA in 24 innings. He spent 2017 with the Lake County Captains, Lynchburg Hillcats, and Akron RubberDucks, pitching to a combined 10–5 record with a 2.86 ERA in 28 starts between the three teams. On May 25, 2018, Bieber pitched a rain-shortened seven-inning no-hitter for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers against the Gwinnett Stripers. The Indians purchased Bieber's contract on May 31, 2018, and added him to their active roster. He made his major league debut that evening, starting against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. He pitched innings, giving up four runs (all earned) and eight hits while walking one and striking out six as the Indians defeated Minnesota 9–8. Bieber finished his rookie season with an 11–5 record, a 4.55 ERA, and 118 strikeouts in 20 appearances. Owning a 7–3 record with a 3.54 ERA over 18 games (17 starts) to begin the 2019 season, Bieber was named an MLB All-Star for the first time, for the All-Star Game played at Progressive Field in Cleveland. He struck out the side on 19 pitches in the fifth inning as the American League won, 4–3. He received the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. Bieber finished the season with a 15–8 record in 34 games (33 starts). In innings,

In Their Own Story

The lights at Progressive Field hummed their low, electric buzz as the late-inning crowd settled into the upper deck. Down on the mound, the pitcher stood in his rubber, glove low, and the whole stadium seemed to lean forward by a fraction. The batter in the opposite dugout had already seen the slider twice this at-bat, had already adjusted, and still the ball arrived late, dipping just enough to make the swing miss by the width of a finger. The catcher's mitt closed. The crowd exhaled. In the third-base dugout, a teammate grabbed the pitcher's arm and pulled him in, and for a moment the only sound was the muffled thud of the ball hitting the backstop. That was the Bieber start—the one where the whole rotation's weight sat on one right arm, and the whole city held its breath between pitches.

Reader's Guide

Shane Bieber is a right-handed starting pitcher known for his command and strikeout ability. He won the AL Cy Young Award in 2020 after leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. He has been an All-Star twice (2019, 2021) and won a Gold Glove in 2022. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024, he returned in 2025 and was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, where he made his first World Series start in Game 4 of the 2025 World Series.

Did You Know?

• Bieber was a walk-on at UC Santa Barbara and earned a scholarship by his sophomore year.
• He pitched a rain-shortened seven-inning no-hitter for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers in 2018.
• Bieber struck out the side on 19 pitches in the 2019 All-Star Game and won the All-Star Game MVP.
• In 2020, he became the first pitcher since Justin Verlander to win the AL pitching triple crown.
• Bieber's nickname for Players Weekend in 2019 was 'Not Justin' due to sharing a last name with singer Justin Bieber.