Shane Bieber and Tom Hanks will both be toeing the rubber for the Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians are going to have a pair of aces starting the season.

The Cleveland Guardians 2022 season is going to be a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, if the Guards can develop their prospects, then the season will be a success. The “competitive window” will remain open, largely due to the pitching that includes, Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill, and others.

Civale is having a good spring, with nine strikeouts across two games, seven of which came in just four innings. Yet, it will be ace Bieber who will get the season debut on April 7, in Kansas City.

Beiber will now have been the starter for the opening day game for the last three years going. He is now among 12 pitchers in Guardians history to make such a feat. He toed the rubber in 2020 against the Royals to open the season, and that year he struck out 14 batters to set a club record for most strikeouts on an opening day.

The Guardians finished with a 58% winning percentage that season, winning 35 of 60 games in the Covid-shortened 2020 season. So if Bieber is healthy, Guardians may be in line to repeat their 2020 success.

Tom Hanks toeing the rubber for the Guardians’ home opener

Names change, but history doesn’t and the home opener for the club is going to be proof of that. Long time fan of the club, Tom Hanks is going to be on hand for the Guardians’ first home-opener on April 15 to throw out the first pitch.

Hanks, who’s been a long-time fan of the franchise, lent his voice to the release video that debuted the new team name and logo.

Hanks isn’t from Cleveland originally but he started his acting career with the Great Leakes Theater Festival in Cleveland in the 1970s. That’s when he started watching the club, which went by the name of the Indians. Now the two-time Academy Award Winner will throw out the first pitch at home to start the new era of Cleveland baseball.

Hanks spoke about the honor (via WKBN), saying;

"I’ve had Guardians fever since 1977 when I caught my first game in section 19 of Cleveland’s Lakefront Municipal Stadium.I’m honored to return to Cleveland and Progressive Field for the first home game of the Cleveland Guardians era."

Cleveland baseball is back. Play ball.