David Adler

Blake Murphy with you.

At 4.07 today, Shane Bieber will make his 2026 debut against the Astros with Peter Lambert on the other side.

Bieber posted a .357 ERA down the stretch last year.

He made seven starts, starting with that awesome Marlins outing that I watched on my phone on my knee at a My Chemical Romance concert because that was a must.

I can't miss that.

Shane Bieber moment.

He also threw 18 two-thirds innings in the playoffs for the 386 ERA.

He has made five rehab starts over the last couple of weeks.

Mixed results, four walks in the last one.

The velocity on his fastball about a mile an hour below where it was last year.

But by all accounts, he feels pretty good.

Last year, it wasn't quite as much swing and miss Shane Bieber as before, but he didn't walk anyone.

And to...

The pitch design metrics really liked his ability to locate his pitches.

So when we talk about stuff plus and pitch design metrics, there is a stuff component, which is how nasty are you?

How well does it move?

How much does it play off the other pitches?

And then there's a location component, which is not just, you know, this is the difference between control and

command, it's not enough to just not walk, guys, because if you threw it right down the middle of the plate, you wouldn't walk anyone.

But you want to be able to put it on the edges and put it in tough spots to hit.