Important reinforcements for the Toronto Blue Jays’ rotation are on the way, but they aren’t making the journey back to the majors unscathed.

Shane Bieber was touched up for six hits and five earned runs over 2.1 innings for the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays in his second rehab outing on Sunday.

The 31-year-old right-hander is yet to appear in an MLB game this season, after initially having his ramp-up this past spring delayed past Opening Day due to forearm fatigue, and eventually being placed on the 60-day injured list with right elbow inflammation.

Bieber threw 35-of-49 pitches for strikes, and his four-seam fastball averaged 92.1 m.p.h. — half a tick below the 92.6 m.p.h. it sat in 2025. He induced nine whiffs on 29 swings.

The 2020 Cy-Young award winner didn’t allow a hard-hit ball through the first two innings, with only one single dropping in, but unravelled in the bottom of the third. The Clearwater Threshers connected for five straight hits — double, single, home run, single, single — and then Bieber’s replacement, Blake Purnell, allowed an RBI double and a sacrifice fly.

In his first rehab outing, Bieber pitched two scoreless innings and struck out three with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays.

Bieber was acquired by the Blue Jays for pitching prospect Khal Stephen at last season’s trade deadline while finishing his recovery from Tommy John surgery. He went on to make seven regular-season starts for Toronto, pitching to a 3.57 ERA with 37 strikeouts and seven walks over 40.1 innings.

Max Scherzer also pitched a rehab outing on Sunday – his first since being placed on the injured list on April 27 with forearm tendinitis and ankle inflammation — and logged three shutout innings, striking out four and walking two on 41 pitches.

Toronto is in desperate need of rotation help, as they are currently running two bullpen days each turn. Along with Bieber and Scherzer, Dylan Cease is also on the IL with a hamstring strain, while José Berríos and Cody Ponce are out for the season due to Tommy John and ACL surgery, respectively.

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