Is Shane Bieber the last piece the Toronto Blue Jays need to win a ring?
Shane Bieber’s Comments After Blue Jays Trade Will Make Guardians Fans Emotional originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Toronto Blue Jays entered Saturday tied for the best record in the AL, but it's not because of their pitching numbers. They're 22nd in baseball with a team 4.31 ERA and tied for 10th with a .242 batting average against.
However, that's why they acquired Shane Bieber, Seranthony Dominguez (2-3, 3.09 ERA), and Louis Varland (3-3, 1.98 ERA) at the Trade Deadline. The latter two can help shore up the bullpen, but Bieber could take the starting rotation to the next level.
Bieber is a two-time All-Star and former AL Cy Young Award winner, but he hasn't pitched a full season since 2022 due to injury. The 30-year-old spent his entire career with the Cleveland Guardians before they traded him to the Blue Jays for pitching prospect Khal Stephen.
Bieber opened up about the Guardians and his transition to Toronto on Friday, via MLB.com's Keegan Matheson.
“It was a range of emotions. There’s no reason to shy away from that, right?” the right-hander said. “That is the only organization that I’ve known and that my family has known. Already, within the last 36 hours, the range of people in this organization who have reached out to not just myself, but my wife, that means the world to us. "
"You can tell how much they care about accommodating us and how seamless they want to make this transition," he continued. "To come to a team with so much momentum right now is exciting. It’s invigorating.”
The #BlueJays can dream on Shane Bieber… whether it’s for a couple of months or a whole lot longer.
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) August 2, 2025
Story: https://t.co/JtS17RRv37
A Look at Shane Bieber’s Guardians Career
Bieber is the type of blue-chip player that franchises dream of winning multiple titles with, but injuries derailed his journey in Cleveland.
The Guardians (named the Indians at the time) selected the California native out of UC Santa Barbara in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft. He then got his big-league call-up in 2018 and got off to an uneven start, finishing that year 11-5 with a 4.55 ERA over 20 appearances.
However, Bieber became a club legend after that. The 6-foot-3-inch, 200-pounder earned his first All-Star selection in 2019, going 15-8 with a 3.28 ERA in 34 appearances. He also received the All-Star Game MVP Award and finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting.
Bieber then had his career year in 2020, winning the AL pitching triple crown and the Cy Young Award in the pandemic-shortened season. He led the AL with eight wins and a 1.63 ERA, and led baseball with 122 strikeouts.
Bieber followed that with his second All-Star season in 2021, but he missed three months with a subscapularis (shoulder blade muscle) strain. He finished the year 7-4 with a 3.17 ERA in 16 starts.
Bieber then had one more healthy year before injuries derailed him. The veteran finished 2022 13-8 with a 2.88 ERA in 31 starts, and also won the Gold Glove Award. On top of that, he went 1-0 with a 2.03 ERA in two playoff starts.
In 2023, Bieber went down in July with elbow inflammation before returning in September. He then got Tommy John surgery after starting just two games in 2024, and he never pitched for Cleveland again.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Baseball
