Ross Atkins discusses Blue Jays’ pitching plans
Coming off a shortened season, the Toronto Blue Jays expect to have Shane Bieber ready for Opening Day 2026.
Speaking to reporters at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla., on Monday, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins discussed Bieber’s health and a number of other pitching topics.
“As of right now, he’s in a strong position,” Atkins said, per Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. “I suppose as he starts to ramp up, we could consider some stagger (with) the potential of him not being at 100 per cent at the very start.
“But we’re taking it a week at a time at this point.”
Toronto landed Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians at the 2025 trade deadline in exchange for pitching prospect Khal Stephen.
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Bieber went on to finish his rehab with the Blue Jays before making his organizational debut on Aug. 22. The 30-year-old right-hander ended up making seven regular-season starts for Toronto, throwing 40.1 innings while striking out 37 and posting a 3.57 ERA.
In the post-season, Bieber made starts in all three rounds and appeared out of the bullpen in Game 7 of the World Series. He had a 3.86 playoff ERA and struck out 18 batters in 18.2 innings of work.
Following the conclusion of the 2025 campaign, Bieber chose to opt in to the final season of a two-year, $26-million contract that he signed with Cleveland as he recovered from his elbow surgery. The move set Bieber to enter free agency following the 2026 season.
Nicholson-Smith also shared that Atkins discussed José Berríos’s absence from the Blue Jays during the World Series.
“He was disappointed that he wasn’t in our rotation,” Atkins said, adding that the veteran right-hander, “handled it well.”
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Berríos was placed on the IL on Sept. 25 with right elbow inflammation — the first instance in his MLB career that he missed time due to injury — and was unable to return for Toronto’s run to the World Series. The IL move came days after the longtime starter was moved to the bullpen as the Blue Jays worked to align their pitching plans for the playoffs.
The 31-year-old ended the year with a 4.17 ERA over 166 innings and 31 appearances.
Atkins also said that Toronto views free-agent signing Cody Ponce as a starter and incumbent bullpen piece Louis Varland as a reliever, despite his previous experience pitching out of the rotation.
The Blue Jays heavily committed to their rotation early on this off-season, signing Ponce and Dylan Cease to boost a group that currently features starting candidates Bieber, Berríos, Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Eric Lauer and Bowden Francis.
Yesavage is expected to be in Toronto’s rotation, Atkins said, and will have no hard limit on his workload after logging 139.2 innings across five levels in 2025 — a 46.1-inning jump from his senior season in college.
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