CLEVELAND -- Guardians ace Shane Bieber celebrated his 30th birthday on Saturday with another momentous occasion: his return to game action.
Bieber made his first rehab start Saturday in his comeback from Tommy John surgery in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League. Facing the ACL Rangers, the right-hander threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowed one single and struck out five. His four-seam fastball velocity sat 92-94 mph.
Bieber threw a bullpen session Tuesday with Double-A Akron, and is slated to make his next rehab start on Friday with the RubberDucks.
“We're super excited,” Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis said Saturday prior to Bieber’s start. “We've all been waiting patiently, and we’ve got to continue to be patient. But so far, so good. He's very disciplined and shares how he's feeling and continues to work.”
Saturday’s start marked the latest step forward for Bieber, who underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2024 after making two starts for the Guardians. The right-hander figures to need at least a handful of rehab starts before progressing to a return to Cleveland as he builds up his pitch count, not unlike a pitcher during Spring Training.
While the Guardians are not predetermining a number of rehab outings for Bieber, pitchers may spend a maximum of 30 days with affiliates on a rehab assignment. Bieber’s clock started with Saturday’s outing, which could have him back in the Majors in late June or early July if all continues to go well.
He will likely have a similar workload to Saturday in his start with Akron on Friday, Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti noted, and then progress to four-inning starts. The Guardians, of course, will remain cognizant of how Bieber is feeling along the way.
While no two situations are entirely the same, Matthew Boyd made five rehab starts last year in his comeback from the Tommy John operation he underwent in 2023: one in the ACL, two with Double-A Akron and two with Triple-A Columbus.
“We have a pretty good plan in place,” Antonetti said. “But the one thing we want to make sure -- especially with Tommy John -- is that we're really deliberate in helping him get back to a point where, once he returns, he's able to pitch for the balance of the season without issues. So we'll try to be thoughtful with that, continue to lean on our medical group for their guidance on what that looks like.”
Most of Bieber’s rehab work going forward will be in the Cleveland area with the Guardians’ Minor League affiliates, so which teams he pitches for will depend on who’s at home.
Bieber progressed to facing live hitters for the first time since his surgery earlier this month at the Guardians’ complex in Arizona. Those included matchups against teammate David Fry, whom Cleveland activated off the 60-day IL prior to Saturday’s game against the Angels.
Fry was in Arizona recovering from right UCL revision surgery, and he caught pitches during some of Bieber’s bullpens.
“For a guy coming off TJ, [he looked] so sharp,” Fry said. “ … I was catching his ‘pens, and he'd throw 25 pitches and miss one spot, and he was like, ‘I'm all over the place today.’ I'm like, ‘No, you're pretty good, dude.’”