First it was Dylan Cease, then Max Scherzer, then Shane Bieber.
On Thursday night it was Dylan Cease. On Friday it was Max Scherzer. And on Saturday, it was Shane Bieber.
Three days and three rehab starts for injured Toronto Blue Jays pitchers.
After two starts at Single-A Dunedin, Bieber made his first start at Triple-A Buffalo. He's been out all season because of forearm fatigue related to his Tommy John surgery from 2024 that cost him most of 2024 and more than half of 2025.
Pitching with the Bisons, he went 2.2 innings, throwing 59 pitches. He gave up three earned runs on six hits, walking none and striking out three. Mitch Bannon of The Athletic notes that his fastball velocity peaked at 92.8 mph.
About Bieber
As stated above, Bieber has missed the entire season thus far with "forearm fatigue," likely related to his Tommy John procedure in 2024. The 31-year-old missed most of the 2024 campaign before coming back to make seven regular season appearances in 2025 after being acquired from the Cleveland Guardians. He pitched well, going 4-2 with a 3.57 ERA and then made five postseason appearances, totaling 18.2 innings, but evidently the workload was too stressful for his arm.
He's just of many Blue Jays pitchers who has spent time on the injured list, including those mentioned above and Trey Yesavage, Bowden Francis (season), Cody Ponce (season) and Jose Berrios (season).
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Shane Bieber (57) speaks at the postgame press conference after the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game four of the 2025 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium. Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn ImagesAbout the future for the Jays pitching staff
As it stands right now, Toronto has just three healthy starting rotation options: Yesavage, Kevin Gausman and Patrick Corbin.
Cease looks like he may be healthy enough to return to the rotation as early as next week, so he'll clearly get the fourth rotation spot when he's ready. The Blue Jays recently acquired Simeon Woods-Richardson from the Twins, and it's been expected that he would take the fifth spot.
However, with Scherzer and Bieber both barreling toward returns as well, it looks like Corbin, Woods-Richardson, Bieber and Scherzer will all have to battle for two spots.
Considering Bieber is on a $16 million deal, he figures to make the rotation and pair with Gausman, Cease and Yesavage, meaning that Woods-Richardson, Scherzer and Corbin are really just battling for one spot.
Up next for Toronto
The Blue Jays and Orioles will finish their series on Sunday afternoon at 1:37 p.m. ET. Gausman will take the mound for the Jays while Shane Baz pitches for Baltimore.
After that series come to an end, the Jays will stay at home and host the Philadelphia Phillies at Rogers Centre. That series will begin on Monday.
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