Guardians takeaways: Shane Bieber’s return, José Ramírez’s numbers, Julio Franco’s timelessness (2025)

CLEVELAND — The clock has started. Barring any setbacks, Shane Bieber could rejoin the Cleveland Guardians at the end of June.

Bieber made his first minor-league rehab start Saturday for the organization’s Arizona Complex League team. His outing aired on just about every TV in the Guardians’ clubhouse and coaching areas. The guy on the mound looked familiar. Bieber struck out five, didn’t walk a batter and allowed one hit in 2 1/3 innings. His fastball registered 92-94 mph, and the changeup he’s tinkered with for years had more depth than usual.

Bieber’s rehab assignment can last up to 30 days, which means if all goes well, the Guardians could activate him in about four weeks, give or take a few days. He’ll make his next start Thursday for Double-A Akron, with a target of three innings or 50 pitches. Reliever Erik Sabrowski, recovering from elbow inflammation, will join him.

Designated hitter David Fry, who returned from Tommy John surgery over the weekend, spent time catching Bieber in Arizona this spring. After each pitch, Fry, who is working through a throwing program, placed the baseball in a machine that sent it back to Bieber.

“He’d throw 25 pitches and miss one spot, and he was like, ‘I’m all over the place today,’” Fry said. “I’m like, ‘No, you’re pretty good, dude.’”

Cleveland’s rotation is trending in the right direction. Guardians starters posted a 4.84 ERA in March/April and a 3.60 ERA in May. Bieber, though, could give the group a jolt.

Last summer, Matthew Boyd returned from elbow surgery to supply the Guardians with eight stellar starts (2.72 ERA), plus three sterling efforts in the postseason. Bieber could have enough time remaining on the schedule to make 15 starts or so in the regular season. The Guardians are paying him $10 million this year, and Bieber can opt for a $4 million buyout or a $16 million deal for next season.

Triston McKenzie update

Speaking of starting pitchers rehabbing in Arizona, Triston McKenzie, uh, did not fare as well in his Complex League debut. Here’s how his outing unfolded: hit-by-pitch, strikeout, walk, wild pitch, walk, run-scoring walk, strikeout, strikeout, home run, groundout, walk. The prospect who hit the home run was born in 2006.

It probably goes without saying, given McKenzie’s fall from trendy Cy Young Award candidate to throwing on back fields three time zones away from Progressive Field, but those in the organization have significant concerns about his road back. He has four months to unlock whatever’s preventing him from consistently attacking the strike zone.

As things stand, McKenzie can become a minor-league free agent at the end of the year. He won’t be eligible for another round of arbitration unless he’s added back to the major-league roster.

Time for some José Ramírez stats

This might as well be a regular bit.

There have been 28 hitting streaks in franchise history that lasted longer than the 21-game streak José Ramírez snapped over the weekend. Only 17 of those 28 have taken place in the last century.

In the last 50 years, only seven Cleveland hitting streaks have lasted longer:
30: Sandy Alomar, 1997
26: Casey Blake, 2007
24: Matt Williams, 1997
23: Mike Hargrove, 1980
22: Michael Brantley, 2012
22: Marty Cordova, 2001
22: Julio Franco, 1988

Three others matched Ramírez’s 21-gamer: Franco again in 1988, Joe Carter in 1986 and Albert Belle in 1996.

Ramírez joined Earl Averill as the only players in team history to record a double-digit home run total in 10 consecutive seasons. His 1.085 OPS in May was the sixth highest in any month for a Cleveland hitter since 2000, behind Manny Ramirez (September/October 2000), Jason Kipnis (May 2015 and June 2013), Francisco Lindor (May 2018) and Grady Sizemore (June 2005).

Ramírez posted a .386/.451/.634 slash line in May, with five homers, eight doubles, eight stolen bases, 11 walks and 11 strikeouts. His month culminated in the Los Angeles Angels’ twice intentionally walking him in the first three innings Saturday.

“You saw what happened when they didn’t intentionally walk him,” pitcher Slade Cecconi said. “Almost a homer, a homer and a screamer up the middle. Nobody wants to face that guy.”

The calendar flipped to June on Sunday, and Ramírez kept humming along as he tacked on a single and a homer.

How lucky we are to be alive while José Ramírez is playing baseball.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/Gk5mXM3dTJ

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) June 1, 2025

Here’s where he’s stood on June 2 each of the last five years:
2025: .327 average, .939 OPS
2024: .276 average, .885 OPS
2023: .277 average, .807 OPS
2022: .292 average, 1.025 OPS
2021: .258 average, .882 OPS

Carlos Santana, another veteran out to prove he isn’t slowing down, logged a .316/.450/.544 slash line in May, with five homers, 19 walks and 16 strikeouts.

“He’s a very old man,” Ramírez said through team interpreter Agustín Rivero. “He’s my brother. … He’s the hardest worker out there.”

Julio Franco’s still got it

A sight to behold: 66-year-old Julio Franco offering hitting instruction to Jhonkensy Noel and Angel Martínez in the Guardians’ dugout Saturday afternoon. Martínez was born in January 2002, when Franco was 43 years old — and when Franco still had six big-league seasons remaining. Noel, listening intently, sat beside Franco and Carlos Baerga on the bench. Martínez briefly left the conference to retrieve a bat so Franco could demonstrate some tips. At one point, the two longtime big leaguers stood up, and Franco shifted Baerga’s hands and arms as if the former second baseman were a robot built for hitting demonstrations. Franco and Baerga were teammates on the 1996 Cleveland team.

Guardians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. said Franco helped him in the batting cages daily in 1997.

“He would not let you get down,” Alomar said. “‘You have to do this every day.’ He was good with routines. He was a great hitter. He was one of my favorite teammates.”

Franco debuted in the majors April 23, 1982, and played his final big-league game Sept. 17, 2007, when he was 49 years old. In his debut, he hit a few spots behind 41-year-old Pete Rose in the Philadelphia Phillies’ lineup. In his final game, he opposed a 24-year-old wunderkind named Miguel Cabrera. Even in his mid-40s with the Atlanta Braves in the 2000s, Franco reached base at a high clip and posted an OPS near or above .800 in a part-time role.

Nolan Jones simplifies approach

Nolan Jones had multiple hits in five of his first 49 games this season. He’s had multiple hits in three of his last four. In his last 16 games, he’s hitting .333 (16-for-48). The key? A less-is-more approach. All but one of those 16 hits have been singles. He’s lining pitches back up the middle instead of trying to rescue his reeling stats with a barrage of home runs.

For nearly two months, coaches have assured Jones the hits would eventually fall. His metrics — exit velocity, hard-hit rate, chase rate — suggested better days are ahead, but that can be difficult to trust. “Impossible,” in fact, as Jones said Sunday afternoon.

Jones would return home after each game, study video of his swing mechanics and take pretend swings in the mirror. That’s not a practice he employs when he’s performing well, and eventually, his fiancee told him it was becoming a “terrible” habit.

About a week ago, Jones quit the routine. He stopped watching video at home and examining his motion in the mirror. And instead of trying to convert glitzy metrics into gaudy stats, he focused on hitting line drives up the middle in the batting cage. He’s 8-for-14 in his last four games (and he probably should have had another hit Sunday, but the official scorer charged the defender with an error).

“Sometimes, the best answer might be simplifying,” he said.

(Top photo of Shane Bieber in 2023 start for Akron: Jeff Lange / Imagn Images)

Zack Meisel is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Cleveland Guardians and Major League Baseball. Zack was named the Ohio Sportswriter of the Year for 2021 and 2024 by the National Sports Media Association. He has been on the beat since 2011 and is the author of four books, including "Cleveland Rocked," the tale of the 1995 team. Follow Zack on Twitter @ZackMeisel