Potential contenders may be thinking twice about making a move for Shane Bieber after his outing on Tuesday.
The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander struggled badly against the Washington Nationals. He walked six of the nine batters he faced and gave up four runs and one hit before being pulled with the bases loaded and just two out in the first inning.
Brendon Little came in to record the final out of the first in a game that started 65 minutes late because of a fierce storm in Washington.
Bieber threw 42 pitches, and just 15 for strikes. He is on an expiring contract, making him a candidate to be dealt before next Monday's trade deadline. He is not scheduled to pitch again until after the deadline due to two upcoming off days for the Blue Jays.
Bieber is the second player this season to throw 42 pitches with so few strikes. Kansas City’s Eric Cerantola threw 14 strikes in a 42-pitch relief outing against Tampa Bay on June 30.
In his previous 149 pitching appearances, the 31-year-old right-hander's high for walks was five.
According to Stathead/Baseball Reference, Bieber is the 11th pitcher in major league history to walk at least six while recording two outs or less, and the first to do so since Florida’s Ryan Dempster on Oct. 5, 2001, at Atlanta.
Bieber is the first Cy Young winner to have such an outing, although Hall of Famers Bob Feller and Christy Mathewson did, too. Bieber won the AL Cy Young in 2020.
Bieber didn't make his season debut until June 23 because of an elbow injury.
After some rough outings to start, Bieber was strong the last two times out, giving up just one run on six hits in 13 combined innings.
But his seventh start of the season was one of the worst of his career.
The Blue Jays acquired Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians at last season's trade deadline, and he helped them make their run to Game 7 of the World Series.
— with files from AP.
