CLEVELAND -- Shane Bieber toed the rubber on Saturday afternoon at Progressive Field, in front of a crowded Guardians dugout. The right-hander threw a live batting practice session, his latest step toward a return to a big league mound in his Tommy John surgery recovery.
Bieber tossed two simulated innings of around 15 pitches each, against hitters from the Guardians’ Double-A Akron affiliate.
“I thought he looked incredible,” manager Stephen Vogt said Saturday before the team’s game against the Tigers. “The stuff was really good. Just him feeling healthy is what matters. But the stuff looked really good too. You can tell he's ready to get back out. We'll determine the next steps in the next few days after we see how he feels, but that was really encouraging.”
Bieber’s recovery process had progressed to where he made a rehab start in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League on May 31. He was slated to start for Akron on June 6, but he felt right elbow soreness in an ensuing bullpen session and was shut down from throwing for a week.
Since overcoming that setback, Bieber has thrown multiple bullpen sessions and another live BP on Tuesday.
“It was good,” Bieber said. “I can look at it from two perspectives: how it felt as a rehabber and how it felt as a competitor. ... [As a rehabber, it was] positive, felt good. Got a little tired. It was a hot one out there today, so definitely room to improve in regards to throwing strikes and getting ahead of guys.
“But in regards to stuff and how my arm felt, I'm really happy with how it went today. And then, as a competitor, like I said, just kind of got tired. Threw a few more balls than I would have liked. I’m happy to be able to look at it from that perspective and focus on how I can get better for my next live [session].”
Bieber noted he likely will throw at least one more live BP as he continues his progression; a return to game action would figure to be not too far behind, but he and the Guardians continue to take things day by day and are going off how he feels physically.
Bieber noted he had an inkling he would need to build back up a bit after the setback last month. The timing was a bit unfortunate, considering it happened after he returned to game action and had enjoyed a pretty steady progression to that point.
“They kind of say it's pretty uncommon to go through these things without a little hiccup or whatever you want to call it,” Bieber said. “Up to that point, I had a tremendous buildup, so I was flying pretty good and hitting every mark and checking every box.
“It could have happened at a better time. I would have preferred it to happen earlier, but it also could have happened at a worse time. I could have been further into my progression. Any which way you spin it, [I’m] just happy to be back throwing right now and leave that behind and continue to progress.”