Cleveland Guardians ace Shane Bieber is ready to take another big step toward his return from injury. Bieber will make his first rehab start this Saturday in the Arizona Complex League, according to Guardians Prospective.

Bieber has been out since the start of last April due to Tommy John surgery. The 29-year-old threw 12 scoreless innings with 20 strikeouts over two starts in 2024 before going on the shelf. It has been a long road back for the righty, but now he's closing in on a return.

Shane Bieber's Guardians run before Tommy John surgery

Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Shane Bieber (57) delivers a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the third inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

Shane Bieber has been with the Guardians his entire career. While his rookie season in 2018 was decent, he truly burst onto the scene as a dominant starter in Year 2. He went 15-8 with a 3.28 ERA and 259 strikeouts in his first All-Star campaign.

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Bieber was even more dominant in Year 3, which was the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The righty took home the Cy Young Award by going 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA, leading MLB in a number of categories in the process.

The injury woes began to strike in 2021, though. While Bieber earned his second All-Star nod, he only managed 16 starts. He was back to form in 2022 with 200 innings pitched in 31 starts, but then he only made 21 starts in 2023 and the two starts in 2024.

Cleveland is hoping Bieber will be able to return to his full powers after this Tommy John surgery. The Guardians are off to a solid 29-24 start this season, which is five games behind the Detroit Tigers but still atop the AL Wild Card race.

Cleveland's starting pitching has been okay with Tanner Bibee leading the way, but they don't have that true ace when Shane Bieber is out of the picture. If the Guardians get their ace back to form, they'll become a more dangerous World Series threat in a tough AL Central.