Bieber keeps promise, returns to the mound

This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The fifth inning on Friday night made all the work Guardians starter Shane Bieber had to put in over the last few months worth it.

Things seemed off with the Cleveland ace at the end of June when the team was keeping him under 90 pitches in his starts. The workhorse was getting pulled earlier from outings and wasn’t getting his usual results. Over the All-Star break in July, the reason became clear: He had been dealing with some right elbow inflammation.

The first day of the second half of the season came with difficult news, when the Guardians announced Bieber would be shut down for a few weeks before slowly getting back into baseball activities. At that point, the 29-year-old hurler was determined to make his return in 2023.

Bieber has been through this before. In 2021, he was shut down in the middle of June with a shoulder strain that kept him out until the final week of the regular season. But he said that experience didn’t make sitting on the sidelines any easier this time around.

“I think timing-wise, yeah, it’d be hard to ignore the similarities,” Bieber said. “I guess from that aspect, keeping that same mindset of focusing on the positive, working your way back, going into the offseason with a healthy arm, healthy program can set you up for a great year the next year.”

Bieber worked feverishly to get his body ready to pitch again this season. On Friday night against the Orioles, that work paid off, when he returned from the 60-day IL.

“It was a big goal of mine since whatever that day was to get back out there and start and make multiple starts and finish the season on my terms, so it felt great,” Bieber said.

Bieber gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts in five innings. He couldn’t help but focus on what could’ve gone better, and he tried to remind himself of the bigger picture. He accomplished his goal of coming back to the big leagues after making just two rehab appearances.

“I gotta try really hard to keep things in perspective,” Bieber said. “I want to be a lot better than I was [on Friday], but my arm felt great. There’s a lot of work to be done and a lot left to be desired and I’m confident that I’ll be able to do all of that.”

There were hiccups along the way, which would be expected for someone who hasn’t pitched in a Major League game in more than two months. But something clicked in the fifth inning.

Bieber knew he was on a pitch count, considering he was limited to 65 pitches in his last rehab outing. He wasn’t going to throw more than 80 pitches, but when he was sitting at 68 heading into the fifth, he was sent back to the mound.

“They sent me back out there once we regained the lead,” Bieber said, “and that allowed me to find the aggression to inevitably just compete.”

Bieber locked in, tossed a hitless inning with one strikeout and threw the fewest number of pitches of any of his innings that night (12). With two outs, he sat at 77 pitches and found a way to end the inning on a groundout on his 80th pitch.

Bieber didn’t hold back in showing his emotion on the mound and gave flashes of the typical ace-like pitcher he’s been for Cleveland over the last handful of seasons. Whether or not the Guardians attempt to shop Bieber (who’s set to hit free agency after the 2024 season) over the winter remains to be seen. Regardless of what his future holds, Bieber made it clear -- especially in the fifth inning -- his injury won’t hold him back, once again.

“I think that inning meant a lot to me,” Bieber said. “Like I said, another step in the right direction.”