{"id":73267,"date":"2025-08-16T04:25:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T04:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/73267\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T04:25:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T04:25:09","slug":"latest-rehab-outing-for-blue-jays-shane-bieber-another-big-step-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/73267\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest rehab outing for Blue Jays’ Shane Bieber another ‘big step forward’"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUFFALO \u2014 A wide grin took over Shane Bieber<\/a>\u2019s face shortly after he pitched seven scoreless innings in Buffalo while he considered where he might pitch next, but no, the right-hander wasn\u2019t making any predictions whether his next start would be with the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not gonna guess \u2014 we\u2019ll see, we\u2019ll have the necessary conversations,\u201d Bieber said, not long after he made quick work in his third rehab start with triple-A Buffalo. \u201cI feel ready, so I\u2019m excited for what\u2019s next.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The former Cy Young Award winner sure looks ready for what\u2019s next, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Friday night, Bieber gave up six hits, walked nobody, and struck out four, firing 90 pitches \u2014 64 of which were strikes. It\u2019s the longest outing the two-time all-star has enjoyed with the Bisons since the Jays acquired him at the trade deadline while he\u2019s been making his return from Tommy John surgery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHappy with how everything went today,\u201d Bieber said. \u201cDidn\u2019t feel tip-top from a delivery standpoint, but I guess it\u2019s kind of good work to get in, you\u2019re not always going to play your best. I was able to put together seven innings and happy with how it all went.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bieber hasn\u2019t played an MLB game since April 2024, when elbow pain led him to have surgery, and while he may not have felt tip-top delivery-wise, he was in control from start to finish on Friday. He never allowed more than a hit per inning, made quick work in a couple of three up three down innings, showcased a fastball that topped out at 94.3 m.p.h., and struck out the final batter he faced, leaving the Bisons with a 2-0 lead in an eventual win over the visiting Lehigh Valley IronPigs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt ready so tonight was a big step forward, and I\u2019m happy with it,\u201d Bieber said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As he walked off the field, some of the 8,068 fans here at Sahlen Field stood and clapped for what could be the final time they see him play in a Bisons jersey.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters Bieber would likely need one more start after his first two were in the books in triple-A, with a target of around 85 pitches for Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI told them I keep bouncing back well and I felt ready, so happy for whatever they throw at me,\u201d Bieber said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old made his first rehab appearance on May 31, and by late July he\u2019d worked his way up to double-A. Bieber was expected to rejoin Cleveland\u2019s rotation this month, but he was traded to Toronto on July 31.<\/p>\n

On Friday in Buffalo, Bieber gave up a lead-off single to open the game, and another single to open his final inning \u2014 he hopped on the mound in frustration after that one. But he didn\u2019t allow the IronPigs to get anything going. \u201cMy delivery was a little bit out of whack,\u201d Bieber said. \u201cIt got better towards the second half of my start, and so I was happy with the adjustments made.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I try and pride myself on being able to make mid-game adjustments, and stuff started to straighten out for me in regards to where I wanted to locate and just how my pitches were acting. That\u2019s a great step forward as well as making big game adjustments, and maybe I\u2019ve felt better physically and delivery wise in previous outings. But you\u2019re not always going to feel your best and it\u2019s about going out there and competing \u2014 and being able to do that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s still on the road to fully coming back after his surgery, which he called \u201ca long, long road.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not at the end of it. There\u2019s a lot of work still to be done and I\u2019m willing to do it,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel great. It\u2019s great to go out there and just compete and read swings and have fun, throwing the ball and not taking anything for granted.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bieber made his debut with the Cleveland Guardians in 2018 and during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he led MLB with 122 strikeouts and a 1.63 ERA to earn the AL Cy Young Award. In his last full MLB season, back in 2023, Bieber made 21 starts and posted a 3.80 ERA with 107 strikeouts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WatchWatch Blue Jays vs. Rangers on Sportsnet<\/p>\n

The American League-leading Toronto Blue Jays continue their homestand with a three-game series against the Texas Rangers. Watch Game 2 Saturday on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting at 3 p.m. ET \/ noon PT.<\/p>\n

Broadcast schedule<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always around the zone with his pitches,\u201d said Bisons manager, Casey Candaele. \u201cThere\u2019s not many wasted pitches that he throws that aren\u2019t competitive, and in that aspect, the starters that do that, they usually go deep into games and they\u2019re usually successful. With his stuff, they\u2019re really successful. I think he\u2019s come back strong and he\u2019s been really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bieber now has 17.2 innings under his belt with Buffalo, and Friday\u2019s game ended as fireworks lit up the sky. Bieber is looking forward to experiencing the atmosphere in Toronto, which he called \u201cincredible\u201d from what he\u2019s seen so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then in years past I\u2019ve always enjoyed pitching at the Rogers Centre,\u201d he added. \u201cWhen you\u2019re the away team you tend to get a little more amped and it\u2019s a great atmosphere. And so I\u2019m excited to experience that myself in the Jays uniform.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bieber said he felt strong and could\u2019ve kept going Friday through seven innings: \u201cdefinitely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a steady progression and I\u2019ll look to extend that next time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The necessary conversations have to happen, but we\u2019ll soon find out whether next time is back in Buffalo, or a debut for the Toronto Blue Jays and Bieber\u2019s long-awaited return to MLB.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUFFALO \u2014 A wide grin took over Shane Bieber\u2019s face shortly after he pitched seven scoreless innings in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-73267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}