Latest Shane Bieber injury update shows the Guardians may have dodged a bullet 

While Shane Bieber pitched well down the stretch for the Toronto Blue Jays, he was on the mound for a moment that will live on in baseball history forever. 

With Will Smith up with two outs in the 11th inning of Game 7 of the World Series, Bieber threw a slider that caught too much of the plate that Smith sent into Toronto’s bullpen. 

After starting the season rehabbing on the back fields at Guardians spring training, Bieber just being on the mound for the biggest moment of the season was an accomplishment in itself, even if it ended in heartbreak for Canada. 

But just because he was back on the mound doesn’t mean that he was fully healthy during that time, as The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon published a story earlier this week about how Bieber “dealt with forearm fatigue” at the end of the 2025 season. 

Bieber surprised all of the baseball world by picking up his $16 million player option for 2026 earlier this offseason instead of testing free agency, and Bannon’s report about Bieber’s injury adds a bit of context to that. 

There's a good chance the Guardians win the Shane Bieber trade long-term

According to Bannon, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said that Bieber is “in a strong position” for the start of 2026, but that they’re planning on taking things week-to-week with the 30-year-old. 

That kind of thinking should be familiar to Guardians fans considering Bieber spent most of the final 2 1/2 seasons of his time in Cleveland existing in a weird injury space. 

After tossing 200 solid innings in 2022, Bieber missed nearly two months with elbow inflammation in 2023 before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024 after two fantastic starts. 

Going into the season, Bieber seemed like a lock to be traded at that deadline since he was set to be a free agent after the season, but his injury complicated that. 

Instead, he reupped with the Guardians on a one-year, $14 million contract with a $16 million player option for 2026 that he picked up last month. 

While Bieber put together a solid showing with the Blue Jays after being acquired at the trade deadline (3.57 ERA in 40 1/3 innings), the Guardians have a good chance to win the trade long-term thanks to Khal Stephen. 

While Stephen, who the Guardians acquired from the Jays for Bieber in a one-for-one swap, only managed to throw 11 1/3 innings at Double-A with the Guardians due to right shoulder impingement, he’s currently ranked as Cleveland’s No. 6 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. 

The Guardians have a well-deserved reputation of being one of baseball’s best at getting the most out of pitchers, and Stephen seems an obvious heir to Bieber’s throne as one of the best developmental pitching success stories. 

It’s hard to imagine the Blue Jays would rush Bieber back into action considering they added Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce to an already stellar rotation, so he should get every chance to get healthy before taking the mound. 

And even if that results in him looking like a front-line starter again, it’s important to remember all of the uncertainty surrounding this version of Bieber. While trading him away was a gut punch for the fanbase, it was a move that could set the Guardians up for long-term success.