Guardians’ Shane Bieber on track for massive Tommy John rehab step

The Cleveland Guardians were swept by the Cincinnati Reds this weekend to fall to 25-21 on the season. Overall, it’s been a solid start for the defending AL Central champs, but they could use a boost. Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis spoke to MLB.com on Sunday about Shane Bieber’s pending return from injury. How close is the ace to returning to the mound?

“I sat down with [senior vice president, medical services] Lonnie Soloff on Thursday morning. We started to put down the first draft of a rehabilitation calendar. I know that his live batting practice his last time [on Friday] was really, really good,” Willis said, per Tim Stebbins.

Willis continued, “We saw, I think, 92 to 94 [mph] with the fastball in that live BP setting. So he’s continuing to move forward. He hadn’t had any issues. And the next steps are very soon.”

Stebbins reports that the next step would be game action in rookie ball in Arizona. The Guardians would also have reliever Trevor Stephan and utility man David Fry rehabbing around the same time. Beiber has not pitched since April 2, 2024, but his track record before then shows that he will immediately be their ace when he comes back.

The Guardians’ starting pitching has been good enough this season while dealing with Bieber’s injury. They also did not expect Tristin McKenzie to end up back in the minor leagues, as his numbers tanked shortly after Bieber’s injury. The Guardians have a solid offense but could use some help on the mound. There is no better starting pitcher on their team than Bieber and they need his help.

Bieber won the 2020 American League Cy Young and finished in the top ten in 2019 and 2022. If he can return to that form, the American League should watch out for Cleveland this summer.