Blue Jays welcome back Shane Bieber with their season at a turning point

The Toronto Blue Jays might be on the verge of their hottest streak of the season and they could be getting a giant boost back to help their cause. That boost is hopefully in the right arm of Shane Bieber, their prized acquisition at last year's trade deadline, who has yet to throw a pitch for the team this year.

After opting in to his $16-million deal for 2026 shortly after the World Series, it was soon revealed that Bieber's season wouldn't be getting off to the same start as everyone else. Bieber was coming off Tommy John surgery and pitched in a ton of high leverage innings after the Blue Jays picked him up from the Cleveland Guardians. Between the stretch run and the playoffs there was a lot of pressure on his recovering arm and that caused the delay in his season begining.

Now, it appears as if he's ramped up and ready to go after a few minor league rehab outings. Bieber is slated to be activated on Monday and start Tuesday night (Jun. 23) for the Blue Jays in Toronto as they host the Houston Astros at Rogers Centre. It is not a stretch to think that this could be the move that really gets the Blue Jays' season on the right track.

Blue Jays steering the ship in the right direction, but need to find another gear

The Blue Jays went 14-17 in March / April, and 15-14 in May. Through their first 17 games in June they are sporting a 9-8 record and are coming off a sweep over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, along with a series split at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs (going 1-1 with the finale to be played at a later date due to a rainout). A 4-1 stretch ahead of a crucial home stand is a good spot to be in, as long as they can continue to ride that momentum.

The Astros are up first. A team that is 37-42 and enter this series two games behind the Blue Jays for the last spot in the Wild Card race. Texas is on deck and the Rangers are just a game behind Toronto. Then it's the New York Mets and the return of Bo Bichette coming in for the Canada Day series. The Mets have had an awful season and are five-and-a-half games out of the NL Wild Card and 14 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East.

The Blue Jays are 22-13 this year against teams under .500 and 21-18 at home. While all of these are great numbers to dream on and hope that the Blue Jays get on a roll, the biggest thing fans really want to hang their hat on is former Cy Young award winner Bieber giving the Blue Jays a five man rotation for the first time since the first few weeks of the season.

The 31-year-old has a career 3.24 ERA, 3.15 FIP, a 21.8 fWAR, 10.15 K/9 and 1.99 BB/9 rate. If Bieber can deliver some of these elite numbers over the course of the rest of the season, it will go a long way to solidifying their foothold within the Wild Card chase. For what it's worth they've also managed to make up a game-and-a-half over the last week on the Yankees and the top spot in the AL East.

This now gives the Blue Jays a five-man rotation of Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease (who will open the series on Monday, Jun 22), Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber and Patrick Corbin. Considering they've been using spot starters and bullpen days at least once through the rotation for the last two months, they have to feel good about the potential of this group.

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