CLEVELAND -- Amid his comeback from Tommy John surgery, Shane Bieber promised himself that he would be honest with himself and the Guardians with how he was feeling. The right-hander of course wants to get back on a big league mound, but the biggest priority is that he does so healthy.
After Bieber felt some soreness following his first Minor League rehab start last Saturday and his ensuing bullpen on Tuesday, he put that mentality into action.
“I had what I tagged as some normal soreness, kind of with the uptick in intensity in the game action and the bullpen following a couple days later,” Bieber said before the Guardians' 5-3 loss to the Astros in 10 innings Saturday. “It just turned into something where I was like, ‘I'm not sure I should throw through this.’”
Bieber is shut down from throwing for a week and is set to be re-examined around the middle of next week. That decision followed him consulting with Guardians team doctors and Dr. Keith Meister about what he is feeling.
The good news is Bieber’s surgically repaired ligament is holding up. As Meister (who performed his surgery in April 2024) reassured him over the course of several phone calls, what Bieber is experiencing is not all too uncommon for pitchers coming back from such a major surgery.
The minor setback does represent Bieber’s first speed bump in what has otherwise been a steady progression in his rehab process. The timing of it was particularly frustrating; Bieber started last Saturday in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League. He got to Cleveland this week and he was set to make his second rehab start on Friday with Double-A Akron.
“But unfortunately, these rehab processes aren't exactly linear,” Bieber said. “So I've had a fantastic progression up to this point. I'm a little frustrated with the small hiccup, but hopefully we'll just keep it as just that.”
Bieber’s next steps will follow his re-examination next week; the Guardians are making sure they take things one day at a time. When he’s ready to resume his progression, he figures to start with catch play, then resume throwing bullpens and facing live hitters, before he gets back to a rehab assignment.
Though the setback figures to delay his season debut compared to when he may have returned otherwise, Bieber is keeping a sage mentality on everything.
“I'm thankful to have great support,” Bieber said, “not only in this clubhouse, but in the training room -- helping me keep perspective about what's important, and that's when I do take the mound at Progressive [Field] or whether it's here or on the road, that I'm healthy for the long term. So it's important to go about this process in the correct way.
“I’m very excited to get back when that time comes.”
Bieber grew close with Matthew Boyd and Alex Cobb last season, and both former teammates have been influential to him since he underwent surgery. Boyd (2023) and Cobb (2015) previously underwent Tommy John, and Bieber has picked their brain about what their own rehab process was like.
“It's really reassuring to be able to lean on guys that have gone through this process before,” Bieber said. “Because they're like … ‘I’m happy you made it this far before feeling something.’ So again, I’m a little frustrated with the timing of everything, but it'll all work out.”
Bieber threw 43 pitches and struck out five over 2 1/3 scoreless innings in his start last Saturday in Arizona. Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti noted after that outing that Bieber’s four-seamer was averaging 92-94 mph and that his changeup in particular had more depth to it than it has in the past.
“One of the luxuries of Tommy John is [you throw] a lot of bullpens and [do so] for a long period of time,” Bieber said. “So I had plenty of time to work and refine. I feel like my stuff is in a great spot, both from metrics and output, so I don't think I'll falter that much with a little bit of time off.”
And when he does return to the mound for Cleveland, Bieber will do so with a bit of a new look. He began sporting a mustache around a month or so ago.
“I made my debut with a big beard,” Bieber said. “And so when [my wife Kara] looks back and she sees pictures, she knows what time period that's from. So if I make my return from Tommy John with a mustache, it'll be easily identifiable.”