Blue Jays' Shane Bieber: Nearing rehab assignment
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Wednesday that Bieber (elbow) could begin pitching in rehab games by the end of next week "if all goes well," Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.
Toronto has been bringing Bieber along slowly this season after he contended with fatigue in his surgically repaired right elbow toward the end of the team's run to the World Series last fall. He's been throwing against live hitters for nearly two weeks, and with Bieber having thus far avoided any setbacks during that step of the recovery process, he appears poised to advance to the final phase of his rehab program in the near future. Bieber is expected to require around four or five minor-league starts before being activated from the 60-day injured list, so he's unlikely to be a realistic option for the Toronto rotation until late June.
