Bieber (elbow soreness) shut down for one week
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CLEVELAND -- Shane Bieber has been shut down from throwing for one week after he experienced soreness in his surgically repaired right elbow, following his initial Minor League rehab start last weekend and subsequent bullpen session on Tuesday.
Bieber is set to be re-examined in the middle of next week to determine his readiness to continue his progression.
“Obviously a little bit of the setback with shutting him down for a week, but it seems to be all normal -- normal rehab from Tommy John,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “These things happen. So we'll reassess where we are in a week.”
Bieber made his first rehab start on Saturday, in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League, in his comeback from April 2024 Tommy John surgery. The 30-year-old was set to make a second start on Friday, with Double-A Akron -- with whom he threw his bullpen on Tuesday.
Bieber consulted with team doctors and Dr. Keith Meister (who performed his Tommy John surgery last year) after reporting his soreness, which led to the recommendation he not throw for one week.
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The news marks at least a temporary setback for Bieber on his road back to the Majors. In his first rehab start on Saturday, the right-hander threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings and struck out five. Friday was going to mark his first rehab outing with one of the Guardians’ Minor League affiliates, and he was expected to progress to throwing three innings and around 50 pitches.
Last weekend, the Guardians noted most of Bieber’s rehab work going forward would be in the Cleveland area with the organization's various affiliates.