Shane Bieber Nears Return to Guardians’ Rotation
Pitcher Shane Bieber is on track to rejoin the Cleveland Guardians’ rotation in late June or early July, following Tommy John surgery last April.
Bieber will make his second rehab start on Thursday with the Double-A Akron RubberDucks team. In his previous outing, he pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in an Arizona Complex League game, where he faced nine batters, allowed one hit, and struck out five.After spending most of his time at the team’s spring training complex in Goodyear, Arizona, Bieber is likely to remain in Northeast Ohio for the remainder of his rehabilitation. The Guardians’ main affiliate teams are in Columbus, Akron, and Eastlake, Ohio, all within a two-hour drive of Progressive Field.It was really fun to see Shane return to a competitive environment. He has worked on adding some complementary pitches or changing the way some of his pitch profiles look. His changeup, in particular, had perhaps more depth than in the past.
Chris Antonetti, Cleveland’s President of Baseball Operations
The plan is for Bieber to release up to 50 releases again on Thursday before increasing the workload.
With the two-time All-Star pitching possibly every five days, his return to the rotation could occur between June 25 and 29, when the Guardians have a home series against the Toronto Blue Jays and the St. Louis Cardinals.
We have a pretty good plan, but what we want to ensure, especially with Tommy John, is that we are really deliberate in helping him get back to a point where, once he returns, he can pitch for the rest of the season without any issues.
Chris Antonetti
Bieber’s return, whenever that may be, should boost a rotation that has struggled in the first two months of the season. The Guardians’ starters entered Sunday’s game with the fourth-highest ERA in the American League (4.25).
Tanner Bibee is 4-5 with an ERA of 3.86, while Ben Lively will undergo Tommy John surgery this week.Bieber agreed to a one-year, $14 million contract last fall, with a $16 million player option for 2026.
Cleveland (31-26) enters Sunday six games behind Detroit in the American League Central, but currently holds one of the three wild-card spots.
“I think we’ve seen periods of what we’re capable of doing, but we feel like we still have our best baseball ahead of us and that’s part of something that goes along with being a young team.”I think we’re in the fight. I think what we’re looking for is to be a little more consistent in all areas of the game, whether it’s starting pitching, our bullpen, defense, offense, all those areas.
Chris Antonetti
