Saturday, July 23, 2016
Indians’ top pick reached his limit after two innings
By BRIAN DZENIS
NILEs
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are going to dish out Shane Bieber in small doses this season, but the first taste was good Friday night.
Bieber, the Cleveland Indians’ fourth-round pick out of UC Santa Barbara, made his professional debut in the Scrappers’ 14-7 win against the Lowell Spinners.
“It felt great, there was some nerves — I’m not going to lie — but it was good to get out there and get my feet wet,” Bieber said. “I felt like I got into a groove in the second and unfortunately it ended there.
“That was a scheduled start and I was excited to do it. I’m glad that I was able to get out there and start the game and help the team get a win.”
Bieber is the third winningest pitcher in UC Santa Barbara history. He pitched in the first round of the College World Series, coming out on the wrong end of a pitcher’s duel with a 1-0 loss to Oklahoma State. The Gauchos were eliminated in the second round by World Series runner-up Arizona. That CWS run is the reason why the Scrappers aren’t giving him many innings.
“Coming in from college, he’s thrown 130 innings and we’re definitely cognizant of that,” Scrappers pitching coach Greg Hibbard said. “He’s easing back into it after taking some time off.
“He hasn’t thrown since the College World Series. With a guy that’s thrown a lot of innings, you have to be careful with him.”
Bieber’s first professional inning was a mix of good and bad. He struck out two batters, but he also threw two wild pitches. The errant throws put Lowell’s Victor Acosta on third base after he singled. Acosta scored off of Ryan Scott’s RBI-single.
The former UCSB pitcher got some help from college teammate Andrew Calica, who scored Gabriel Mejia with a sacrifice fly. Mitch Longo followed up with an RBI-single.
Bieber reached his limit after the second, finishing with one earned run on two hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
“It’s kind like the scouting report we had on him,” Hibbard said. “He had good fastball command. His slider was good. He threw his change up more than I thought he would.”
He was replaced by Luis Jimenez. Jimenez opened his night by giving up a run on two wild pitches.
The Scrappers exploded offensively in the third inning, scoring eight runs with 14 batters. Gavin Collins knocked in Mitch Longo with a double. Scrappers shortstop Yonathan Mendoza tacked on two more runs by hitting the first home run of his Scrappers career over the left field wall.
An error scored another run before Erin Cerda hit a two-run double. Collins collected his third RBI of the inning and Emmanuel Tapia added another RBI single before the Spinners could close out the third inning.
Jimenez got the first two outs of the fourth inning in seven pitches, but getting the third out proved troublesome.
Lowell tried to match Mahoning Valley power for power as Yoan Ayber hit a two-run homer to chase Jimenez. Ryan Colgate came on in relief and Acosta knocked in two more runs with a single. Cerda collected his third RBI on a sac-fly in the bottom of the inning.
Acosta hit an RBI-double in the top of the sixth inning, but the Scrappers responded in kind. Calica hit a triple to score Mejia and Cerda picked up another sac-fly RBI. The rest of the game remained scoreless as Argenis Angulo tossed three shutout innings. Colgate got the win, giving up a run on four hits while striking out two in 2.1 innings. Despite the seven runs, Hibbard was impressed with his staff coming off an 11-1 loss Thursday night.
“I don’t think we walked a guy,” Hibbard correctly guessed. “You’re going to give up hits, but you don’t want to give up walks and hits or hit batters and hits. To come out tonight and throw strikes and establish the strike zone, that was really nice to see.”
The Scrappers conclude their three-game stint against the Spinners tonight at 7:05.