Shane Bieber’s Return to Blue Jays Turns Bumpy Against Astros

The Toronto Blue Jays got Shane Bieber back in the rotation. Now they need him to start pitching like the Cy Young winner he was in 2020.

His first start of the season came against the Houston Astros on Tuesday at Rogers Centre. He missed most of the first half of the season due to right elbow inflammation, which required him to go through an extended spring training, and five rehab starts to build up properly to return to the Majors.

The Astros — who have been hot offensively late — rudely welcomed Bieber back to the Majors as he was long gone when Houston won, 9-7.

Shane Bieber’s First Start of 2026

Welcome Back, Biebs 💙 #BlueJays50 pic.twitter.com/pXEMuTv7qL
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 23, 2026

Houston got started right away. Jose Altuve doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. He almost got out of the jam but a two-out single by Isaac Paredes brought Altuve home to give the Astros a 1-0 lead.

The second inning went much better for Bieber. He retired the side in order. In the third he gave up a leadoff single to Raynel Delgado but got Altuve to ground into a double play. Yordan Alvarez double, but a Christian Walker groundout ended the inning.

In the fourth, Bieber was unceremoniously chased from the game by an Astros lineup that decided to power up.

He got Paredes to pop out for the first out. But Bieber then allowed back-to-back-to-back home runs by Yainer Daiz, Cam Smith and Taylor Trammell to give Houston a 4-0 lead. Trammell’s shot allowed him to join the select group of hitters that have reached the 500 level of Rogers Centre.

He struck out Brice Matthews but followed that by giving up back-to-back singles to Delgado and Altuve before he was relieved by Tommy Nance. Bieber worked 3.1 innings as he gave up nine hits, four earned runs and now walks against two strikeouts. He threw 75 pitches, 50 of which were strikes.

It's a performance that gives Bieber plenty to work on as he prepares for his next start, which is likely to come on Sunday against the Texas Rangers.

Bieber joined the Blue Jays at the trade deadline last year, even though Toronto knew he needed a bit more time to recover from Tommy John surgery. Once he was ready, he gave the Blue Jays seven solid starts to end the season as he went 4-2 with a. 3.57 ERA. He struck out 37 and walked seven in 40.1 innings. He helped propel Toronto to its first World Series in 32 years as the Blue Jays fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. In the playoffs he went 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in five games (four starts).

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