Guardians Baseball Insider

The Cleveland Indians selected Tanner Bibee – Right-handed Starting Pitcher with the fifth-round pick (156th overall) in the 2021 MLB Draft.

Tanner Bibee- Right-handed Starting Pitcher

School: Cal St. Fullerton;
Age: 22.4;
Height: 6’1; Weight: 190;
Throws: Right

Tanner Bibee Pre-Draft TRankings:

IBI – round 5-7

MLB.com – 162

Baseball America – 212

Prospects Live – 224

Willie Hood’s Analysis:

The right-hander grad transferred from Cal St. Fullerton to Texas A&M to create future opportunities (depending on the draft). His selection in the fifth round seems to indicate his willingness to sign and begin his professional career. The smaller framed Bibee proved to be a durable starter with 40 collegiate starts for the Titans over his four seasons. In 2021, he logged 89.2 innings across 16 games, 14 starts, walking 21 (2.11 BB9), striking out 67 batters (6.72 K9), and recording one complete game.

Bibee is another right-hander with a short arm circle (see: Bieber, Plesac, and Civale’s motion) that the organization seems to admire. The right-hander displays a quality four-pitch mix, with the addition of an average-looking curveball. A California native, Bibee typically sits in the low 90’s and touching 95 on occasion with his heater. His above-average slider records average spin rates and generates outs. His changeup is an average pitch, with all of his pitches playing up because of his plus control and ability to locate where he wants to. It’s a typical back of the rotation type profile of a command/control.

Justin Lada’s Take:

As Willie noted, Bibee has that short arm circle that gives him the ability to have good command and get some ride on four seam fastball and an higher arm slot. Bibee is up to 95 and has a solid four pitch mix. He commands everything well, which helps his arsenal play up even though the pitch grades all come back with nothing above average. Despite lacking a big starters frame, he was pretty durable for Cal State Fullerton and this is the kind of pitcher that looks like a depth rotation type but Cleveland manages to turn into something more. If anything takes a step forward – consistent velocity, or he gets a pitch from a 50 to a 55 he could be a solid rotation sleeper.

Press Release:

Posted a 7-6 record with a 3.61 ERA during 2021 season in 16 games/14 starts (89.2IP, 84H, 36ER, 21BB, 67SO).  The Mission Viejo, CA native concluded his four-year collegiate career with an ERA of 3.82 in 54 games/40 starts  (115ER/271.0IP). He posted a 3.63 ERA in nine starts for Wareham in the Cape Cod League in 2019  (7ER/17.1IP) and recorded a 2.73 ERA in 4 spring starts in 2020 (9ER/29.2IP). 

Cleveland Indians Scouting Director Scott Barnsby on Tanner Bibee