Shane Bieber's Improvement Couldn't Have Come at a Better Time for Blue Jays
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Timing, as they say, is everything.
The Toronto Blue Jays have scuffled for much of the 2026 season, but a 14-7 record dating back to July 29 has them firmly in the AL wild card mix. And Shane Bieber has been a big part of that renaissance.
Bieber's play has mirrored that of the Blue Jays. After sporting an ERA of 6.00 through two June starts and a 5.64 ERA in July (five starts), the 31-year-old owns a 3-0 record with a 2.96 ERA over four starts so far this month, including 22 strikeouts to just six walks over 24.1 innings. He has allowed one or fewer earned runs in five of his past seven starts.
Bieber Has Shown a Knack for Timing
Bieber endured a rough start to the season, opening the year on the injured list due to right elbow inflammation and forearm fatigue and then struggling upon returning to the mound. But even as his return to peak form might have seemed to be a long time coming, it may be for the best that it didn't come a little sooner.
Before their recent surge into the playoff race, Toronto's front office essentially announced their surrender for 2026. Sure, they may have brought in Jose Soriano, Jameson Taillon and Spencer Arrighetti, but those moves were largely made with an eye toward 2027.
Pending unrestricted free agents like Kevin Gausman, Daulton Varsho and Jeff Hoffman were shown the door rather than being kept around to help push for a wild card spot that seemed out of reach.
Bieber, who is also a pending UFA, was not part of the Blue Jays' trade deadline deals. While we will never fully know what President Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins were up to in the lead-up to the deadline, it's plausible that the former Cy Young winner simply didn't have much of a market.
Perhaps, then, Bieber's ugly July 28 start proved fortuitous. In what was his last start before the deadline and first following two impressive quality starts, the right-hander lasted just two-thirds of an inning against the Washington Nationals, allowing four earned runs and a whopping six walks. Had that outing gone better, it's entirely possible that Toronto's front office could have extracted some value out of the veteran via trade and his renaissance could be benefiting another organization.
It's only fitting that Bieber went out on the same night as the trade deadline and held Varsho and the Houston Astros to one run over 5.2 innings.
Even if Bieber doesn't remain a Blue Jay past this season, his value as an 'own rental' is substantial. He has served as a much-needed stabilizer to the injury-marred rotation of late, giving the club another safe starting option alongside Soriano and Dylan Cease.
His ability to eat innings has proven critical, as he helped much of the bullpen earn a day of rest between Max Scherzer's Wednesday start (four innings and seven earned runs, although not necessarily his fault) and a bullpen day on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.
Who knows where Toronto and their starting pitching would be right now if not for Bieber. That July 28 start could prove to be the most important bad outing of the season.
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Ben Fisher is a long-time sportswriter and baseball lover, dating back to 2008, when he was a member of the media relations team for the Toronto Blue Jays. He has covered a wide range of sports for a seemingly endless array of publications, including The Canadian Press, Fansided and The Hockey Writers. When he isn't writing about sports, he can be found coaching his equally baseball-obsessed sons' Little League teams.