As Shane Bieber recovers from right forearm fatigue that’ll sideline him through Opening Day, the 30-year-old righty, who’s entering his first full season post-Tommy John surgery, hasn’t yet thrown off a mound this spring. But that’s something he hopes to change in the coming weeks.

Bieber has been limited to playing catch on flat ground at 90 feet since he arrived to camp at the Toronto Blue Jays’ player development complex in Dunedin, Fla., for spring training. It’s a decent starting point for the recovering hurler after enduring a much heavier workload than he had anticipated in 2025, logging 88 total innings between seven rehab and big-league starts each and five post-season appearances.

This is all about preparing him for the marathon of 162 games rather than a sprint to October like last year. While he won’t be ready for the start of the 2026 season, he already appears to be inching closer to his first spring bullpen session.

During an appearance on TSN 1050’s Overdrive radio show, manager John Schneider provided an encouraging update on Bieber’s status on Thursday, revealing that he’s now progressed to throwing from 120 feet and could begin his starter’s build-up in “the next week to two weeks” if all goes smoothly.

The next steps for Bieber from here will include logging multiple bullpen sessions at the PDC before advancing to live batting practice and simulated games. If everything checks out after that, then the club will likely begin mapping out a timeframe for his return to live game action.

There’s still a chance we could see Bieber make an appearance, or two, before the Blue Jays’ Grapefruit League schedule wraps up on March 22 against the Tampa Bay Rays, probably in a short-inning stint. However, they also have the luxury of slow-playing his build-up due to their surplus of starting pitching. So, if he doesn’t pitch in a competitive environment until the minor-league season begins, so be it.

Toronto’s staff has the depth to cover Bieber’s absence until he returns from an eventual rehab assignment. After all, even without him, they’re still six starters deep between Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, Cody Ponce, José Berríos and Eric Lauer.

It’s still too early to nail down an exact timeframe for Bieber’s major-league return. He’ll likely need to clear a few more hurdles before those plans can begin to form. Assuming he avoids any setbacks from here, though, it’s possible he could rejoin the Blue Jays’ staff in late April or early May.

Until then, the onus will shift to the likes of Berríos to help cover innings as the projected fifth starter in this rotation. All eyes will be on the 31-year-old starter this spring after he concluded last season with his first-ever IL stint — ailments that contributed to his poor ’25 performance and ultimately kept him off the post-season roster last fall, factors that led to his controversial decision to leave the team during the World Series.

But now that Berríos is fully healthy again and has made amends for his mistake, there’s an opportunity for him to get back into everyone’s good graces. As someone who’s been as consistent and durable as he’s been, making 32 consecutive starts from 2018-24 (excluding the ’20 COVID season), the veteran right-hander remains capable of providing considerable value, especially if he winds up as the fifth starter.

The organization’s rotation depth has taken multiple tough blows since spring training opened, now that Bieber and Bowden Francis — lost for the entire year due to UCL reconstruction surgery — are on the shelf.

Having said that, with those departures come opportunities for others, as Berríos has renewed clarity regarding his role, and Lauer — who’d prefer to start, but is capable of wearing multiple hats — is now just one additional injury away from stepping back into a rotation spot.