Shane Bieber’s impending Blue Jays return gives him chance to become Guardians villain 

On three separate occasions, Shane Bieber took the mound for the Cleveland Guardians in the postseason. 

After making his postseason debut in the weird 2020 postseason, Bieber made a fantastic start against the Rays in the 2022 Wild Card Series before turning in another solid start for the Yankees in the American League Division Series. 

While he never made another postseason start for the Guardians due to the variety of injuries he suffered at the end of his time in Cleveland, those gutsy postseason starts helped turn him into a Guardians icon. 

But the next two weeks could help turn Bieber into a Guardians’ villain thanks to his performance with the Toronto Blue Jays, who are attempting to chase down the Guardians in the American League Wild Card standings. 

Shane Bieber could pitch out of the bullpen in the final weeks for the Blue Jays

Although Bieber’s currently on the injured list with a teres major injury, he’s getting closer to returning and should throw off a mound at some point this week. 

There’s not going to be enough time for him to work as a starter, but it seems like there’s a sliver of hope that he could pitch out of the bullpen in the final week of the season. 

And that role could loom large in Cleveland given the Blue Jays entered play on Wednesday a game behind the Guardians in the Wild Card race (while also holding the tiebreaker between the two teams). 

Bieber’s departure hasn’t stung a ton in Cleveland given the fact he’s been a pretty league-average pitcher in Toronto, but the storyline around his time in Toronto would change pretty quickly if he ends up contributing to the Guardians missing out on the postseason. 

Bieber looked the best he had all season prior to getting hurt (he allowed one run in seven innings against the Rays in his last start), but there’s no guarantee that he’d be that effective if/when he returns from the IL.

Plus he’s only pitched in relief three times in his career, so that return could also coincide with a new role. 

That said, Bieber could easily replace Michael Lorenzen or Ricky Tiedemann at the back of the bullpen without disrupting much of the hierarchy behind closer Louis Varland. 

Meanwhile, the Guardians are entering the final months of the season with one of the best and deepest bullpens in all of baseball. 

Bieber’s season-ending injury left the Guardians scrambling to find pitching for most of 2024, but they were able to right the ship in time for the postseason. 

The Blue Jays are in a different boat due to the timing of his injury, but he could turn things around at the Guardians’ expense in the final month of the season. 

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