Shane Bieber Injury: Ready for season debut

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

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 miles per hour 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 April 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 to accommodate Bieber's return.