CLEVELAND -- While one Cleveland hurler inches closer to a possible return, the other has been forced to work at a much slower pace.

The Indians took their time with both Aaron Civale (right middle finger sprain) and Shane Bieber (right shoulder strain) throughout their rehab processes simply because the club knows the importance of making sure they don’t take a step back. But Civale is a little ahead of Bieber in his progression, as he successfully completed his first full bullpen session on Tuesday, knocking off another big hurdle in his road to recovery.

“He got on the mound yesterday and threw a bullpen [session]. 20 pitches, all fastballs,” Indians pitching coach Carl Willis said. “Another step forward. He's been out throwing. His throwing program is out to 200 feet. He's progressing. Still a ways to go, but obviously any day you get on the mound and throw any kind of bullpen is a good day. For him, it's a step forward.”

Civale had been limited to just playing catch as of last week and had been working through throwing the ball with less and less protection on his third finger. According to Willis, he was able to throw his bullpen session without any type of wrap or extra support.

And then there’s Bieber, who is still taking steps forward, but maybe not as big of a lunge as Civale has been able to make in the last few days. Bieber is still in the catch phase of this progression and had a scheduled day off from throwing on Wednesday.

“As long as we continue to make steps forward, regardless of how big or small, it’s better than taking a step back,” Willis said. “And so far we haven’t really had to do that with Shane. He’s continuing to progress and move forward, and hopefully we can get to a point somewhat soon that he can go out on a rehab assignment and he can rejoin us at some point.”

With two months left in the regular season, there’s still enough time for Bieber to slowly make his way back into the rotation. However, depending on how long it takes him to get back on the mound, his rehab schedule could make it tricky to see him again in the regular season. But the Indians aren’t trying to look too far ahead. Right now, the club wants to focus on getting two of its best arms back to full strength.

“It’s a slow process,” Willis said. “These are guys that are very important to us, to our team [and] our organization, and we have to do it the right way. Sometimes it’s hard to be patient because we want them back so badly and they want to be back so badly, but we have to make sure we do it right.”

Rotation plans
Cleveland will come out of Thursday’s off-day with J.C. Mejia slated to pitch the series opener vs. the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday. Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill will follow on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, leaving it safe to assume that Zach Plesac will toe the rubber on Monday in Toronto. On Tuesday, the club will need to add a fifth starter to the rotation once again, and Eli Morgan will be the guy to fill that spot.

“His being sent down was not performance-related whatsoever,” Willis said. “More of a situation where we needed to make a move to get some help up here on the position-player end as well as the bullpen, and with the off-days, we could get through those off-days at that period of time with just four starters. Unfortunately for Eli, he was the guy that fell on that day that we needed to make a move. The plan is for him to come back.”