The Toronto Blue Jays’ major trade-deadline addition is finally set for his club debut.
Pitcher Shane Bieber will start on the mound Friday against the Miami Marlins, manager John Schneider said Monday.
Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young winner, has not pitched in a major-league game since April 2024 with the Cleveland Guardians. He then underwent Tommy John Surgery for elbow pain, which has sidelined him ever since.
The Guardians dealt Bieber to the Blue Jays at the July 31 deadline in exchange for pitching prospect Khal Stephen.
In his last full season two years ago, Bieber went 6-6 with a 3.80 ERA and 1.234 WHIP over 21 starts with Cleveland, with whom he had previously spent his entire seven-season career.
Since joining the Blue Jays, Bieber’s made three starts with triple-A Buffalo, recording a 2.04 ERA and 16 strikeouts while allowing just two walks over 17.2 innings.
Now 30, the Orange, Calif., native is being counted on to provide ace-like upside to what has been a steady-yet-unspectacular Blue Jays rotation.
While Toronto’s starters will remain on turn through a series against the Pittsburgh Pirates prior to Bieber’s debut, it remains unclear how the club will handle its rotation moving forward.
The current fivesome of Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassit, Jose Berrios, Max Scherzer and Eric Lauer all carry some combination of pedigree and performance that could make it difficult for the team to bump one from the unit of starters.
Toronto leads the AL East at 73-52, sitting five games ahead of the Boston Red Sox and 5.5 up on the New York Yankees entering play Monday.
