Guardians' Shane Bieber Gets Honest About Rehab Start

Shane Bieber is inching closer to his return to the big leagues following Tommy John surgery at the beginning of the 2024 season.

The Cleveland Guardians ace took a massive step in his rehab on Tuesday evening, making his first rehab start with a team affiliate.

Bieber suited up for the Lake County Captains and threw a total of 43 pitches in three innings of work. He allowed two hits and one run to score while striking out four batters and issuing no walks.

One of the most encouraging signs from the right-hander is that he had solid command of the plate, throwing 69 percent of his pitches for strikes.

Guardians RHP Shane Bieber turned in a strong rehab start for the Captains! 💪

3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

43 pitches, 30 strikes pic.twitter.com/8m1qpHLuto
— Lake County Captains (@LCCaptains) July 23, 2025

After the outing, Bieber said he felt good on the mound, but admitted he's eager to see how he feels on Wednesday.

"I felt great. Yeah, I think that's what I'm gonna take home tonight is I continue to progress with each outing. I'll pay a lot of attention to how I bounce back tomorrow," explained Bieber.

"Really, just looking forward to my next start; happy with tonight. Obviously, gave up one run; don't love that, but you know, lots of work on still so looking forward to doing that."

It will be interesting to watch where Bieber goes from here. After he made a rehab start at the Arizona Complex League in May, the former Cy Young winner experienced some soreness in his elbow, which ultimately resulted in a setback.

Hopefully, Bieber's arm responds well and he can make another rehab start in a week or so.

If that's the case, he could hopefully join Cleveland's rotation at some point in August.

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