The Blue Jays have not been whole much of the season, but the former Cy Young winner is hoping to get them closer to that soon.
Hoping to avoid a sweep on Wednesday at the hands of the Detroit Tigers, the Toronto Blue Jays enter play at two games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the battle for the third and final wild card spot in the American League with 10 games to play.
They are also 0.5 games back of the Texas Rangers, who have moved in between the two teams.
After an off day on Thursday, the Blue Jays will start a new series with the Rangers in Arlington. That series will go a long way in determining what the final week of the season will mean to both teams.
Speaking of the final week of the season, Jays starter Shane Bieber is hoping to return for it. As noted by Hazel Mae of Sportsnet, Bieber threw a flatground bullpen session on Tuesday. He will throw a side bullpen session on either Friday or Saturday.
He's been on the injured list since Aug. 25 with a right shoulder issue. If he is able to come back this season, it's unclear if he'll be able to start or if he'll have to be in the bullpen. The Blue Jays have used "openers," on several occasions this season, so there's a chance that Bieber could throw a handful of innings after an opener as well.
Of course, in the final week of the season, Bieber could only be looking at one true appearance potentially so the Jays will have to make his usage count.
Toronto Blue Jays start pitcher Shane Bieber (57) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees during the first inning at Rogers Centre. Nick Turchiaro-Imagn ImagesThe right-hander has only made 11 starts this season, and didn't appear in a game until late June after spending most of the first three months on the injured list with "right forearm fatigue," which stems from a Tommy John surgery he had in 2024.
However, he's been pretty good when healthy - and he was a big part of holding the Jays patchwork rotation together through a third of the summer. He's 5-2 with a 4.53 ERA in those 11 starts, and he's delivered back-to-back quality starts.
Bieber will be a free agent at the end of the season. He won the Cy Young Award in 2020 with Cleveland.
A season full of rotation woes
Bieber (2x), Trey Yesavage (2x), Max Scherzer (2x), Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce and Patrick Corbin have all spent time on the injured list this season. Yesavage and Corbin are currently on the injured as well.
This is in addition to Cody Ponce, who made only one start before tearing his Achilles, and Bowden Francis and Jose Berrios, who both had Tommy John surgery.
