Shane Bieber Begins Rehab Assignment With Dominant Rookie League Outing

After undergoing UCL surgery with an internal brace, Shane Bieber tossed 2.1 shutout innings in his first rehab start as he eyes a return to the Guardians’ rotation by the All-Star Break.

Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Shane Bieber (57) bats against the Texas Rangers during the second inning at Surprise Stadium. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Shane Bieber had right elbow surgery (UCL) on April 12th last season. He chose the route of an internal brace to hopefully speed up his recovery time. On Saturday, the Guardians gave him his first rehab start at their rookie ball complex, leading to 2.1 shutout innings with one hit, no walks, and five strikeouts. Bieber threw 33 pitches. 

Cleveland #Guardians RHP Shane Bieber struckout 5 of the 9 Rangers batters he faced today tossing 2.1 scoreless innings of work in his 1st rehab start in the Arizona Complex League.

Line - 2.1(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 5SO

Video - AZ HitFlix on Instagram #GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/tP4bUWaTXA

— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) June 1, 2025

Shane Bieber Fantasy Baseball Outlook

After a rebound season in 2022 (13-8 with a 2.88 ERA, 1.040 WHIP, and 198 strikeouts over 200.0 innings). The following season, Bieber had a sharp decline in his strikeout rate (7.5 – 14.2 in 2020, 12.5 in 2021, and 8.9 in 2022), which should have been a signal to avoid him in the fantasy market in 2024.

Unfortunately, Bieber was on point in spring training (three runs, 14 baserunners, and 19 strikeouts over 17.1 innings), propelling him up draft boards in late March. His right arm was electric over his first two starts in 2024 (no runs, 10 hits, one walk, and 20 strikeouts over 12.0 innings) before blowing out his right elbow.

When at his best in 2020, Bieber had a career-best fastball (94.3 mph) while dominating with his curveball, slider, and changeup. The velocity on his fastball slipped to about 91.5 mph the following two seasons while showing an uptick in his brief innings in 2024 (92.5 mph). In his one appearance this year, he was throwing between 92 and 94 mph with his heater.

Cleveland will give him multiple starts at rookie ball before pushing him to AAA and eventually to the majors. My early thought is that Bieber should be back in the majors around the All-Star Break. 

Spencer Strider and Matt Brash underwent the same surgery last year, and they beat the timetable back to the majors for pitchers who have undergone Tommy John surgeries.