Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Shane Bieber is set to return to the team’s rotation on Monday against the Houston Astros.

Bieber, who has been out all season while dealing with an elbow injury, recently completed several rehab outings for Triple-A Buffalo. He is feeling good and ready to go, and Blue Jays manager John Schneider made it official on Saturday that the former Cy Young winner will start for Toronto on Monday.

“Shane Bieber will be activated from the IL to start for the Blue Jays on Monday vs Houston,” wrote Blue Jays reporter Arden Zwelling on X.

Blue Jays Need Shane Bieber Back in Rotation

Toronto’s starting rotation has been banged up all season long, leading to the team overusing its bullpen. By getting Bieber back in the team’s rotation, it will help everyone on the pitching staff out, as Bieber is typically an innings-eating starter who can go deep into games.

Bieber was acquired by the Blue Jays at last season’s trade deadline from the Cleveland Guardians. In 7 starts for the Blue Jays, Bieber went 4-2 with a 3.57 ERA in 40.1 IP. He also pitched for the Blue Jays in their World Series run.

In the offseason, Bieber picked up his $16 million player option, which, at the time, was a bit surprising, as most analysts thought he would opt out of his contract and test the free agent market. However, Bieber picked up the one-year option to return to the Blue Jays.

Part of the reason he picked up the player option was because he liked playing for Toronto last year, as did his family. But we also found out he was dealing with an elbow issue during the offseason, so instead of testing the market, Bieber played it safe and returned to Toronto for one more year.

Although he has missed the first half of this season, Bieber’s return is surely to help the Blue Jays out as they look to have a big second half of the season. When he’s heathly, he is one of the best pitchers in the American League, so the Blue Jays are hoping that he can return to his Cy Young form for them and help lead the Blue Jays to the playoffs again.

Blue Jays Trying to Get Back to .500

The Blue Jays are 37-39 right now, and they are hoping to beat the Chicago Cubs on Saturday and Sunday to get back to .500.

The American League Wild Card hunt is wide open this season, so despite a poor first half to the Blue Jays’ season, they still have a good chance to turning things around and getting back into the postseason. They are a very talented team and have the bats and pitching to make a playoff run.

With Bieber back in the team’s starting rotation, look for the Blue Jays to have a better second half and make a run for a postseason start as this team is too talented to not be in a playoff position this season.