The Cleveland Guardians have been waiting for their ace, Shane Bieber, to get healthy after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April of 2024.
It has been a long road, filled with blood, sweat, tears, and a couple of setbacks, but he seems to have turned a corner and is already dominating hitters in the upper minors.
He proved, on Tuesday, that his stuff is as crisp as ever during his most recent rehab start in Double-A Akron.
“Rehab Update: Guardians’ Shane Bieber tossed four innings, allowing one run while striking out seven! He topped out at 94 mph,” the Akron RubberDucks posted on X.
Rehab Update: @CleGuardians Shane Bieber tossed four innings allowing one run while striking out seven! He topped out at 94 mph 🔥@GuardsInsider pic.twitter.com/irJXF4U1aT
— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) July 29, 2025
The velocity, in particular, is encouraging.
It’s close to his pre-injury fastball velo.
Bieber was magnificent on Tuesday, dominating the competition and looking in complete control while stretching out to a full starter’s workload.
He threw 58 pitches and keeps getting closer to where he wants to be.
At this point, he probably needs just one additional minor league start before he is deemed ready to return to the Guardians’ rotation.
There is a non-zero chance, however, that he is traded before Thursday.
He has a $16 million player option for 2026, which complicates things a bit, but there aren’t many sellers out there and precious few pitchers with ace potential.
Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young winner and owner of a 3.22 career ERA, certainly qualifies as long as he is fully healthy.
His slow recovery from the elbow surgery might scare off a few squads, but he seems to be just a week or two away from activation.
Even if he is not traded, the Guardians are probably happy with adding an ace to their stretch run rotation.
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