Shane Bieber threw two scoreless innings in his first rehab start of the year for the Florida Complex League, allowing three hits and striking out three. The right-hander is working back from arm fatigue after an MRI found nothing wrong beyond forearm fatigue,
Shane Bieber stepped onto the mound and made the early innings look simple.
In his first rehab start of the year, the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander worked through two scoreless innings in a Florida Complex League appearance on Monday. He allowed three hits and struck out three, returning to in-game action for the first time since last year’s World Series.
The outing wasn’t perfect from the first pitch. Bieber allowed a leadoff single to Richard Matic, and another hit to Queni Pineda two batters later. But after those early baserunners, he finished the inning strongly with consecutive swinging strikeouts.
The plan heading into the FCL game was clear: Bieber was going to throw two innings. Toronto would then continue building his workload from there. according to the approach the team has laid out for this stage of his return. What comes after that is still uncertain—it’s unclear when Bieber will make his next appearance.
Bieber, 30, has not pitched in any game action this season. He entered training camp dealing with arm fatigue, and the Blue Jays evaluated the issue with an MRI during the offseason. That scan showed “nothing was wrong, just forearm fatigue,” manager John Schneider said Monday.
This isn’t Bieber’s first comeback path in recent months. He returned from Tommy John surgery last August and played a big role in helping Toronto reach the World Series.
Once he was finally healthy enough to log regular-season work in 2024, Bieber made seven regular-season starts for Toronto. He threw 40.1 innings, struck out 37 batters, and finished with a 3.57 ERA.
Now, the stakes for his next steps are higher than just one rehab start. With Jose Berrios and Cody Ponce both out for the season, Bieber’s eventual return would provide a major boost to a starting rotation that has taken hits.
Toronto’s preparation isn’t stopping there. As the team looks for additional pitching reinforcements, Max Scherzer is expected to throw another live batting practice session on Wednesday at Rogers Centre, Schneider said Monday.
In the bullpen, injured relievers Tommy Nance and Joe Mantiply are expected to resume throwing sometime early this week.
For Bieber, the message from Monday was straightforward: two scoreless innings, steady strikeout execution after traffic in the first frame, and a clean step forward in a process that still has unanswered timing—starting with what his next outing will be.
Shane Bieber Toronto Blue Jays Florida Complex League rehab start arm fatigue forearm fatigue MRI Tommy John surgery World Series Jose Berrios Cody Ponce Max Scherzer Rogers Centre Tommy Nance Joe Mantiply