GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The roots of every baseball fan’s passion for the game can be traced back to a team or players whom they admired. During my childhood, two of those guys were CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee.
Sabathia and Lee were unique among my favorites, considering I was born and raised in Chicago and grew up watching the Cubs and White Sox. But it was easy to be drawn to the 2007 and ‘08 AL Cy Young Award winners, whose windups I would emulate in my family’s living room.
That’s a long-winded way of saying I admired Cleveland baseball from afar. With that, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tim Stebbins, and I will begin covering the Guardians for MLB.com this season. My first day at Spring Training is Monday, and I can’t wait to get started.
I’m coming to Cleveland after five years of covering baseball in Chicago, including the Cubs for three seasons, before I joined MLB.com in 2023. Over the past two campaigns, I’ve pinch-hit for our talented team of reporters in Chicago and Milwaukee, covering 25 teams over that span.
Coincidentally, that did not include the Guardians. Of course, Cleveland fans have been in great hands, most recently with reporter Mandy Bell -- who has transitioned to a new role with MLB’s youth content department after a stellar six-season run on the beat. Mandy followed Cubs beat reporter Jordan Bastian (a mentor of mine), and Jordan followed Anthony Castrovince (a staple of MLB.com’s coverage since 2004).
I know I have big shoes to fill, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to follow in their steps.
One of the beautiful things about baseball is the storylines that continuously develop over the course of a season, from Spring Training through September and beyond. My goal is to cover the topics that fans care about and that connect them to the team they are passionate about. I hope you ultimately find that reflected in my work, for which I care deeply.
I’ve been to Ohio (and I’m a stout Buckeyes supporter), but I’ve never been to Cleveland. If you have any recommendations, or if you would like to follow along this season, I am on X and Bluesky.
For now, let’s play ball.
