Shane Bieber
 

Everyone is getting a thread these days, I'll pump my favorite player in the league right now, too!

Shane Bieber is emerging as one of the best pitchers in baseball. His hype train has been a slow mover but definitely got some notoriety simply by being in the 2018 Topps Update class of rookies! I think he will be the best pitcher from this rookie class and could win a Cy Young at some point in his career!

Current Stats (07/17/19)
8-3
3.49 ERA with a 3.28 FIP to back it up
11.4 K/9 - 150 on the season
1.8 Walks per nine - again backed up by incredible minor league numbers.

In parts of three seasons in the minors his career ERA was 2.24 and he only walked 19 people. That's it, over 277 innings. 19 Walks. He is carrying his accuracy into the majors and it seems to be working.

Bad news this year - HR Prone. Given the current environment of baseball it shouldn't be all that surprising but still surrendered 17 home runs so far.

All-Star Game MVP: Lot of "controversy" surrounding this choice and I agree, he won because the game was in Cleveland. However, the crowd went nuts when he K'd Acuna. It was electrifying and for anyone who hadn't heard about him, this was him firmly planting his flag in the baseball world!

Trevor Bauer Trade? With Kluber and Carrasco working back, Bauer may become "expendable" seems like a crazy term but with 2020 being his last arbitration year, he could already be out of the Indians price range. I expect him to get around 20Mil next season and may actually not bring the haul the Indians want/need out of him. If he is traded this puts a lot of pressure on Bieber to continue what he is doing and may have an impact on him, who knows. If Bauer is traded AND Bieber continues what he is doing or even better AND the Indians chase down the Twins (only 5 back) he could prove to be a star in Cleveland.

Best Cards
2016 Bowman Draft - First Chrome
2018 Bowman Chrome - First Autograph
2018 Topps Update - Topps Flagship Rookie
2018 Topps Chrome Update - Same photo as 2018 Update
2018 Topps Chroe Update Rookie Autograph - Sticker Auto but still nice!

*Note I am heavily invested in Shane Bieber
**I am a die hard Cleveland Indians Fan
***I think his base rookies will be selling for $5 each by the end of 2020

I'm a Belieber.

Pump, pump, pump IT UP!!!

[IMG]https://media.giphy.com/media/weVGpRu8dlTVK/giphy.gif[/IMG]

I put him at 2nd in the AL CY in my initial prediction. Still wouldn't be surprised to see it happen.

100% Pump Job!

I get hyped for his starts. His name pops up here and there in other threads. Probably could have confined his discussion to calculusdork's Cy Young Predictor thread but I feel no shame. I'm also still pretty jazzed from All-Star weekend and the Indians Win/Twins loss combo from the last two nights!

I remember him dominating during UCSB's CWS run a few years back. Never would have imagined he'd become this good so soon though.

I think he's great, but I'm going with:

2020 Cy Young Winner

Heard it here 1st.

Looks like an ace to me.
How is the hoard progressing Cleveland? Las we talked you were at like 500+ base I believe??

He is fun to watch! That inning in the ASG when he struck out the side at home was awesome

[QUOTE=LVDan;14855403]Looks like an ace to me.
How is the hoard progressing Cleveland? Las we talked you were at like 500+ base I believe??[/QUOTE]

I'm probably around 700 at this point. Close to 300 chrome. Autos and parallels are limited though.

He had a public signing in Strongsville last year shortly after he was called up. Still Kicking myself for not making the drive!

I'm definitely very encouraged. The biggest thing is his age - Whereas Kluber and Bauer didn't really "take off" until they were 27ish, Beiber is already probably a solid #3 starter at a young 24. Considering how well the Indians consistently develop pitchers, I have really high hopes for The Beibs as a pitcher.

As for the card market? I don't expect a ton. For as good as the Indians pitchers are, they don't get much hobby love. You can buy Kluber cards dirt cheap despite the two Cys and Bauer only got a little bump after his huge year last year.

the market for his cards is kinda bizarre
His 2016 BC is 1st chrome but with no auto- not a lot of demand it seems, even for color.
His first BC auto is in 2018 BC(prospect auto w/no RC logo)- these seem pretty popular.
His RC logo TU and TCU base don't bring much but the TCU color is all over the place on pricing, sometimes bringing high auction prices.
I think the sticker TCU is the only licenced RC auto-looks like these have crept up to about $20ea.
As usual I've pretty much stuck with TU and TCU base and parallels and in fact I just noticed he doesn't even have a HHN/Gold Label/Gallery/Triple threads RC like most of the other update guys do. That should help the TU and TCU if he ever becomes widely collected.
As mentioned above, the chances of hobby stardom are obviously pretty slim but I think his RCs(and maybe 16' color?) are a great low risk medium to long term buy.

I'm a Belieber too. Sitting on a nice little stash of TCU base, with some TCU color as well. I thought he was a worthwhile dart throw, given his relative scarcity of rookie card releases, his good minor league record, and his team's excellent track record of developing young arms. I seem to recall that there were some kind words written about him on Fangraphs last season when he made his MLB debut.

A friend of mine sent me a dozen or so of his TCU base at the start of the season, go me.

Digging through a lot of 2018 Bowman Platinum junk I found a base auto RC of his (also Tyler Freeman). Love when that happens.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[QUOTE=jhssketchcards;14857165]Digging through a lot of 2018 Bowman Platinum junk I found a base auto RC of his (also Tyler Freeman). Love when that happens.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

And Freeman, nice little day right there!

[QUOTE=lambeauleap87;14856801]A friend of mine sent me a dozen or so of his TCU base at the start of the season, go me.[/QUOTE]

Your friend also sent you base Update too!

Will wait patiently a few months for my ASG Topps NOW card to arrive and we'll see how he did. Hopefully WS MVP too. :D

[IMG]https://www.topps.com/media/catalog/product/cache/c687aa7517cf01e65c009f6943c2b1e9/a/r/artbb-16c2s-19tn-0498a_.png[/IMG]

Good looking card!^^
I checked my stuff last night and am delighted to discover I still have 2 TU clear parallels. Sold one a few months ago and kinda forgot I have 2 more. :)!

[QUOTE=LVDan;14858581]Good looking card!^^
I checked my stuff last night and am delighted to discover I still have 2 TU clear parallels. Sold one a few months ago and kinda forgot I have 2 more. :)![/QUOTE]

Pretty nasty card to forget about! I'll drool over them if you do ever post for sale!

I’m a big fan of the SSP Variation! I’ve only got two of them, wish I would’ve snagged a few more.

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190718/920fb5a3507ca753a57fef9816690768.jpg[/IMG]

Pitching in Toronto tonight. Heading to the bottom of the 7th.

[QUOTE=ClevelandIC;14876431]Pitching in Toronto tonight. Heading to the bottom of the 7th.[/QUOTE]

3 Pitches. Darn.

Complete Game Shutout? 2nd of the year!

9 IP
102 Pitches
10 K
1 H (in the 7th)
1 BB