Cleveland Indians ace Shane Bieber will return to the mound before the 2021 MLB season wraps up after all. Bieber is expected to start in Friday’s clash against the Chicago White Sox, which would be his first MLB appearance in more than three months.
Bieber, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, hasn’t played in the majors since early June when he was shut down due to a strained shoulder. But according to Indians manager DeMarlo Hale, the 26-year-old slinger has made enough progress to resume his role in the rotation.
“He felt pretty good, so we’re comfortable with starting him Friday,” Hale said on Wednesday via ESPN. “We’ll definitely put a pitch count on him. We haven’t established that yet, but it won’t be too big of a jump from a rehab game in the minors.”
Bieber started his comeback with Cleveland’s Double-A affiliate the Akron RubberDucks, making a start for the team over the weekend and having 57 pitches in just over three innings. He followed that up with a bullpen session with the Indians earlier this week.
The Cleveland Indians will be happy to see Bieber, who was 7-4 early in 2021, back on the mound. In his absence, the team struggled and fell out of the playoff picture. They currently own a 74-76 record that is enough for the second spot in AL Central.
