Blue Jays’ Shane Bieber Offers Injury Update After ‘Frustrating’ Start
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Shane Bieber is navigating a challenging return from a three-month elbow injury, recording a 6.00 ERA across his first two starts. His recent outing against the Texas Rangers saw a rocky start with a first-pitch home run, but he later settled, showing progress from his difficult debut against the Houston Astros. Fans harbor growing concerns given his extensive injury history and his decision to opt into his contract, potentially to bypass further medical evaluations. Despite the "frustrating" beginning, the former Cy Young winner remains optimistic, citing his veteran experience and plans for mid-season mechanical adjustments to refine his pitch shapes and execution, aiming for improved performance.
The Toronto Blue Jays knew there would likely be an adjustment period when Shane Bieber returned to the rotation after missing the first three months of the season with an elbow injury.
While the former Cy Young Award winner has shown flashes of his old form, he's off to a relatively poor beginning as he works his way back, posting a 6.00 ERA across nine innings in his first two starts so far.
In his most recent outing, which came with five and one-third innings against the Texas Rangers last week, he struggled from the very first.
“The game didn’t start in an ideal fashion,” Bieber said after the start, which included his 1,000th career strikeout as well as a first-pitch home run, according to MLB.com’s Matt Betts. “I knew that coming in, and first pitch of the game, I was put on my heels. It was a frustrating start to the game, but that’s baseball. It’s an interesting game at times and it tends to work in stretches like that. We can definitely be a little more sharp from the get-go.”
Bieber turned some heads when he opted back into his contract with the Blue Jays for this season, after he returned from a previous injury in an impressive run with the team that could have earned him more money with a new deal. But after he was sidelined with another injury in preseason, it seemed he might have skipped that potential opt out to avoid undergoing additional medical evaluations, as he may have never been entirely healthy.
Though his sample size for the ongoing season has been small, it might cause growing concerns among Blue Jays fans given his extensive injury history.
But there was also some reason for optimism as his latest start went on, particularly as it marked some progress after a poor debut against the Houston Astros.
“Bieber got off to a rocky start Sunday, giving up a home run to Joc Pederson on the first pitch he threw in the game,” CBS Sports reported. “However, he managed to settle in and hold the Rangers without another run until the sixth inning. It's certainly a step in the right direction for Bieber, who gave up four runs on nine hits (including three homers) in just 3.2 innings in his first start of the season against the Astros after he spent the first three months of the year on the IL with an elbow issue.”
And for the star pitcher’s part, there seems to be plenty to be optimistic about. As a nine-year big-league veteran and two-time All-Star, he has made midseason adjustments successfully in the past.
Following a concerning start to this season, Bieber sent an update about how he expects to continue recovering from his injury with some mechanical changes going forward.
“Mechanically, I’m working on a few things and that’s always hard midseason,” Bieber told the 6ix Inning Podcast. “There are small mechanical cues that I think I can sharpen with my pitch shapes and, hopefully, my execution in the near future.”
The comments provide additional context for a return that has included both encouraging signs and understandable growing pains. But after a less-than-ideal start to his season with the Blue Jays, Bieber seems to think he can continue to improve after returning from injury.