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Blue Jays: Shane Bieber pitches seven scoreless innings with Bisons
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Photo credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Aug 15, 2025, 21:15 EDT
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Shane Bieber is ready to make his Toronto Blue Jays debut.
On Friday, the recently acquired ace made what is presumed to be his final rehab start, going seven scoreless innings with six hits allowed and four strikeouts. Let’s take a look at what happened in this start.
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs got their first hit on the second pitch of the game, as Justin Crawford hit a single. Attempting to steal second, Crawford was thrown out by Christian Bethancourt, while Bieber struck out Alec Bohm and got Donovan Walton to fly out.
No strikeouts came in the second inning, but he generated two flyouts and a groundout from former Buffalo Bison Payton Henry for a second scoreless inning. Another former Bison, Rafael Lantigua, led off the top of the third with a double, but two groundouts and a strikeout ended the threat.
The top of the fourth saw the IronPigs get their second hit with one out, but Christian Arroyo and Henry grounded into a forceout to end the inning. Leading off the top of the fifth was Óscar Mercado, who hit a single. He was erased from the base paths as  Lantigua batted into a double play, followed by a groundout to end the inning.
Moving to the sixth, Luis Verdugo led off the inning with a single, and was out at second when Crawford hit a groundball. Bohm flew out, and Crawford was thrown out at second for the second time in the game.
Surprisingly, Bieber returned to the mound for the seventh inning. There was another single, but Bieber struck out two batters in this inning, and also got Henry to ground out, giving him seven scoreless innings.
Diving deeper into the stats, Bieber generated 10 whiffs, one of which came with his fastball. His best pitch was the slider, generating four whiffs on 16 swings. The cutter generated two whiffs on eight total swings, while the changeup generated two whiffs on three total swings. Lastly, his knuckle curve was used 13 times, generating one whiff on seven total swings.
The fastball averaged 92.5 mph on 30 pitches, but topped out at 94.3 mph. Bieber’s slider was used 31 times and averaged 85.3 mph. Those two were his primary pitches, but he used the cutter 13 times, the knuckle curve 10 times, and the changeup six times.
Overall, he threw 90 pitches, 64 of which were for strikes. He was expected to go 80-85 pitches. That said, his next start will seemingly be with the Blue Jays. When and against whom is yet to be determined, but he’s almost here.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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