Shane Bieber

Bieber dealt with right forearm fatigue toward the end of this season, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reports.

One of the winter’s earliest surprises was Shane Bieber’s decision to pick up a $16MM player option for the 2026 season rather than take a $4MM buyout and return to free agency. That choice was viewed as a head-scratcher around the league at the time, as the former Cy Young winner’s track record and the…

One of the winter’s earliest surprises was Shane Bieber’s decision to pick up a $16MM player option for the 2026 season rather than take a $4MM buyout and return to free agency. That choice was viewed as a head-scratcher around the league at the time, as the former Cy Young winner’s track record and the…

If Bieber didn't think he would pass a physical, that could definitely explain why he surprisingly exercised a $16 million player option to stay with the Blue Jays. Hopefully, it's not that bad, though. We probably won't have much better of an idea until he starts tuning up for the Grapefruit League.

Bieber, who exercised his $16 million player option last month to return to Toronto for 2026, made just a handful of starts this past season in his return from Tommy John surgery. The 30-year-old looked sharp in seven regular-season starts and was outstanding in the postseason, but the Blue Jays clearly don't want him ramping up too quickly in camp. He'll be a clear top-50 range starting pitcher for fantasy purposes despite some lingering workload concerns.