Bieber making progress, likely to throw off mound in 'next week to two weeks'

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The early days of camp brought the bad news that Shane Bieber would be “delayed” ramping up for the new season, but that process is beginning to move.

Bieber had been playing catch at 90 feet when camp opened, which you can call “step one” of any build up. He’s taking the next steps, though, which John Schneider shared Thursday evening in an appearance on TSN 1050’s OverDrive.

“Biebs isn’t that far behind. Biebs is throwing and feeling good. He’s out to 120 feet,” Schneider said. “Hopefully in the next week to two weeks, he’ll be getting off the mound and starting his progression. There are options coming, too.”

Consider this an encouraging step in the right direction, which is welcome news with five weeks until Opening Day. The Blue Jays have the luxury of taking their time with Bieber, too, given the five other established starters around him.

“We’re going to take it slow and be smart. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Bieber said a week ago, “and we definitely know that coming off of last year. I know this group’s hungry and I’m extremely hungry. I can’t wait to get back out there.”

The best-case outcome for Bieber’s 2026 debut:

Let’s wait until Bieber’s first time throwing off a mound to chart out any sort of timeline, but this is already a little less blurry than it was a week ago. This also brings us to the broader conversation of Bieber’s workload, which was never going to be 200 innings.

2024: 12 innings prior to Tommy John surgery
2025: 88 innings (rehab, regular season, playoffs)

Working with some very loose timelines, if Bieber is to return a month or two into the season, that still leaves plenty of runway for him to throw 120-plus innings for the Blue Jays, ideally leaving him with plenty in the tank for another long postseason run. The Blue Jays can adjust in either direction as needed, but it’s a fine starting point given their depth.

José Berríos part of the answer (again)

The apologies are over and so is 2025. Berríos, who was this club’s Opening Day starter for three of the past four seasons, is once again looking like the pitcher who built the reputation as one of the most reliable workhorses in the sport.

Bieber’s status has long been tied to Berríos, given Toronto’s excess of starters and the fact Berríos’ 2025 season ended with a dip in velocity, rare IL stint and him stepping away from the club during the World Series to be with his family in Puerto Rico. Berríos is locked into this rotation, though, which is right where he belongs, and Schneider loves what he’s seen so far. He isn’t the only person in camp excited by it, either.

“José is fully healthy. He’s looked sharp,” Schneider said. “His stuff is back to where it was probably two years ago in terms of velocity and his breaking ball. He changed his breaking ball a bit to make it a little bigger, so I love that guys are trying to evolve a bit, too.”

Just in case: The next level of depth

Eric Lauer will start the Blue Jays’ Grapefruit League opener on Saturday and be stretched out as a starter through camp. He saved this rotation a year ago, stepping into a starter’s role and giving the Blue Jays 15 starts with a 3.77 ERA. He was even better out of the bullpen, too, and handled that uncertainty admirably.

The Blue Jays’ depth is still strong, but if one more blip of bad news hits, Lauer is an excellent option to have as, essentially, the No. 7.

“We feel really good about the stuff and the profile of everyone’s pitches. They’re pretty unique and they’re different from night to night, guy to guy,” Schneider said. “You can never have enough pitching. We get that. We know that. There’s some young dudes knocking on the door too, man. Ricky Tiedemann looks great.”

Tiedemann threw two innings against live hitters Thursday in Dunedin, looking noticeably sharper than his first time facing hitters in camp last week. He’ll pitch in a bulk role this season after missing much of 2024 and all of ‘25 with Tommy John surgery, but joins other prospects like Gage Stanifer and Fernando Perez, who will start Sunday’s spring game, as the next wave of reinforcements.