The Blue Jays reinstated Bieber (elbow) from the 60-day injured list to start Friday's game at Miami.

EDGE Analysis

After recovering from Tommy John surgery, the right-hander is making his first start for Toronto and his first MLB appearance since April of 2024. Bieber finished his rehab assignment at Triple-A Buffalo in dominant form, as he threw 64 of 90 pitches for strikes over seven scoreless frames last Friday. The 30-year-old shouldn't have significant workload limitation given the lengthy rehab assignment, though the Blue Jays are still likely to exercise some caution with his usage. The 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner has a career 3.22 ERA and 10.2 K/9 in 136 big-league appearances, all of which to this point have come with Cleveland.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said that Bieber (elbow) will be activated from the 60-day injured list to start Friday's game in Miami, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reports.

EDGE Analysis

Bieber will be making his first start for the Blue Jays and his first at the major-league level since April 2024, as the right-hander has finally completed a long rehab from Tommy John surgery. The 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner has looked sharp during his rehab assignment, posting a 1.86 ERA and 37:3 K:BB over 29 innings covering seven starts. Bieber went seven scoreless frames and threw 90 pitches in his final rehab outing with Triple-A Buffalo this past Friday, so he should be ready to handle a fairly typical starter's workload in his Toronto debut.

Bieber (elbow) threw seven scoreless innings for Triple-A Buffalo on Friday, allowing six hits and zero walks while striking out four.

EDGE Analysis

The right-hander was dominant in what will almost certainly be his final rehab start as he completes his recovery from Tommy John surgery, firing 64 of 90 pitches for strikes. Per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com, Bieber's fastball has averaged 92.5 mph during his rehab stint, 1.2 mph higher than his last fully healthy campaign in 2022, when he posted a 2.88 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 198:36 K:BB over 200 innings. Acquired from the Guardians in a trade deadline deal, Bieber is likely to make his Blue Jays debut -- and first big-league start since Apr. 2, 2024 -- next weekend in Miami. It's not yet clear, however, whether Toronto will shift to a six-man rotation at that point, or bump one of their current starters to the bullpen.

Bieber (elbow) built up to 78 pitches in a rehab start for Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday, Andres Soto of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

The veteran righty allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over 5.2 innings while striking out six, continuing a tantalizing run that has seen him post a 3.06 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and stellar 23:2 K:BB over 17.2 rehab innings since the All-Star break. The Blue Jays want Bieber to make one more rehab start before they debut their big trade-deadline acquisition, with manager John Schneider indicating his target workload will be 85 pitches. The team has yet to decide whether it will move to a six-man rotation when Bieber is activated from the IL, but Schneider seems to be against it. "You don't want to have that long of a layoff [between starts]," he said Saturday. Bieber hasn't pitched in the majors since April 2, 2024, his last outing with the Guardians before undergoing Tommy John surgery, but it appears as though he'll be ready to handle a regular workload right away once he's activated.

Bieber (elbow) will make another rehab start with Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday, and Blue Jays manager John Schneider indicated that the right-hander will likely make one more start after that before being activated from the injured list, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Bieber threw 62 pitches this past Sunday for Buffalo in his first outing for his new organization after being acquired from the Guardians at the trade deadline, and making two more rehab starts would allow him to get fully stretched out before taking a big-league mound for the first time since April 2024. That schedule would put Bieber in line to make his Jays debut on the road, either in Pittsburgh for a series that runs Aug. 18-20 or, more likely, to begin a series in Miami on Aug. 22. It's not yet clear whether Toronto will consider using a six-man rotation at that point, or bump someone like Eric Lauer to the bullpen despite the southpaw's 2.83 ERA and 55:9 K:BB in 54 innings over his last 10 starts.

Bieber (elbow) struck out six and allowed two earned runs on five hits and one walk over five innings in his rehab start Sunday with Triple-A Buffalo.

EDGE Analysis

Taking the hill for the first time as a member of the Blue Jays organization after he was acquired from the Guardians on Thursday, Bieber spotted 47 of his 62 pitches for strikes in the start, the fourth overall of his rehab assignment. He sported a fastball that topped out at 94.4 miles per hour and held steady throughout the afternoon at around 93 mph, about a tick above his average velocity from his two starts during the 2024 season before he underwent Tommy John surgery last April. According to Mike Wilner of the Toronto Star, Bieber said after Sunday's outing that he was unsure whether he would be activated from the 60-day injured list to make his next start with the Blue Jays, who may prefer for the right-hander to get stretched out a little more before clearing him for his first MLB appearance in nearly 16 months. Once Bieber is reinstated, the Blue Jays could implement a six-man rotation to keep all of their starters fresh for the stretch run.

Bieber (elbow) is expected to throw 70-to-75 pitches in a rehab start for Triple-A Buffalo on Sunday, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

If everything goes well, Bieber could then return from the 60-day injured list to make his Blue Jays debut the following weekend in a road series against the Dodgers. Acquired from the Guardians at the trade deadline, the 30-year-old right-hander and 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner is in the final stages of his recovery from Tommy John surgery he underwent in April 2024.

The Blue Jays acquired Bieber (elbow) from the Guardians on Thursday in exchange for right-hander Khal Stephen (shoulder), Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.

EDGE Analysis

Bieber has been on the injured list all season as he works his way back from April 2024 Tommy John surgery, but he looks nearly ready to make his 2025 MLB debut after striking out seven over four innings of one-run ball in his most recent rehab start with Double-A Akron on Tuesday. He built up to 58 pitches in that start -- the third of his rehab assignment -- so he may require just one or two more outings in the minors before the Blue Jays are ready to break him into the big-league rotation. The 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner holds a $16 million player option for 2026, which he will surely decline if he pitches well down the stretch for Toronto.

Bieber (elbow) will make his next rehab start Tuesday for Double-A Akron, MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Bieber had been scheduled to make the third start of his rehab assignment with Triple-A Columbus on Sunday, but the game was postponed due to rain. He got up to 43 pitches in his previous rehab start one week ago, which suggests he'll need to complete at least two more outings in the minors before returning from the 60-day injured list. The possibility exists a team could trade for Bieber ahead of Thursday's deadline, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the right-hander's start Tuesday is expected to be heavily scouted. He has a $16 million player option for 2026, but a high-payroll team could see him as a risk worth taking.

Bieber (elbow) had been scheduled to make a rehab start Sunday with Triple-A Columbus before the game was postponed due to rain, Lori Schmidt of The Columbus Dispatch reports.

EDGE Analysis

Bieber had been in line to pitch the first game of a doubleheader, but rain rolled through the area and cancelled both games. The Guardians will need to adjust their plans for Bieber, who threw 43 pitches in his most recent rehab outing Tuesday with High-A Lake County.