CLEVELAND -- Shane Bieber was in the Indians' hotel in Cincinnati on the team's off-day Friday afternoon when his manager gave him a call.

"He was like, 'Hey, I got something to talk to you about. Actually, are you in the hotel?'" Bieber said. "He was like, "Come up, I'll meet you.' And I met with him and he was like, 'Sit down.' And I'm like, 'Oh my God. What's going on?'"

Bieber's brain went wild. Was he somehow getting sent down to Triple-A after Saturday's start? Was he about to be traded? Only a few minutes of panic went by before Terry Francona broke the news that the 24-year-old starter was being added to the American League All-Star roster.

"I was like, 'Man, you had me nervous. You had me sweating,'" Bieber said. "And he was like, 'Yeah, I was trying to.'

"This is extremely special for me. … To be able to go out there on the mound and pitch in front of a home crowd as an All-Star, it's all sinking it. It probably won't finish sinking in for a little while now, but it's really special and I'm honored and thankful."

• 2019 All-Star Game, presented by Mastercard: July 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX

At 24 years and 35 days old, Bieber becomes the youngest Indians starting pitcher to earn an All-Star nod since CC Sabathia in 2004. Bieber is replacing Mike Minor of the Texas Rangers, who is slated to start on Sunday.

While Bieber was the team's fifth starter coming out of Spring Training, he's been the rock of a staff that's battled through injuries to three members of its five-man rotation in his first full year in the big leagues.

"To do it in my first full season is pretty special," Bieber said. "This game is extremely hard, so we try to keep it as light as we can, but there's a lot of pressures in this game. To be able to do it in the first full season is something I'm really thankful and honored and blessed to be able to do. And to be able to have the opportunity to do it in Cleveland is something I'm really excited for."

In 18 games (17 starts) entering Friday, he's 7-3 with a 3.54 ERA in 104 1/3 innings, and he'll make his final start of the first half of the season on Saturday in Cincinnati. At the time he was named to his first All-Star roster on Friday, the righty ranked fourth among AL pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings (11.5), fifth in opponents' on-base percentage (.268), sixth in strikeouts (133), seventh in walks per nine (2.0) and ninth in opponents' batting average (.219).

Last year as a rookie, Bieber pitched to a 4.55 ERA in 114 2/3 innings (20 games, 19 starts) with a 1.334 WHIP, 23 walks and 118 strikeouts after making his debut on his 23rd birthday, May 31.

"I feel like I haven't changed too much," Bieber said. "Maybe my stuff's gotten a little bit better this year and played a little bit better, and I'm learning how to sequence a little bit better to certain hitters and to guys two, three, four times through the lineup. But you know, like I just said, the learning doesn't really stop. So I don't feel like much has changed for me. I'm just continuing to grow."

The host city will now have four of its own players in the 2019 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard, including Bieber, lefty closer Brad Hand, shortstop Francisco Lindor and starting first baseman Carlos Santana.

"I'm really excited to join those guys," Bieber said. "Some of the best players in the game and I'm lucky enough to have them on my team every game throughout the season. But even luckier to have them on the All-Star team, too. I think it'll be nice. I'll probably stick pretty close to some of those guys before I figure out what I'm doing. But it'll be nice to have them there."

The All-Star Game presented by Mastercard will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 180 countries. FOX Deportes will provide Spanish-language coverage in the United States, while ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage. MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.