Cleveland ace Shane Bieber placed on injured list with shoulder strain

Cleveland's rotation has been thrown into further chaos, as ace Shane Bieber was placed on the 10-day injured list on Monday.

The reigning American League Cy Young winner was examined after his start against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, and it revealed a subscapularis muscle strain in his right shoulder. Bieber had a rough start, allowing five earned runs and two home runs in a 6-2 loss. His velocity was also down a tick.

Manager Terry Francona on Monday said Bieber would be shut down from throwing for two weeks and then re-evaluated. Reliever Kyle Nelson has been recalled in Bieber's place.

"After yesterday's start, Biebs reached out to the medical staff and just wanted some peace of mind because he thought he could work through it," Francona said. "We got him imaged ... We're still obviously reaching out for more information and sending the images to different doctors and things like that, trying to get the best information we can. So, for right now we know it's no-throw for a couple of weeks."

Cleveland was already without starter Zach Plesac. The back end of the rotation has been a fluid situation, and it will only be further tested over the next month as the team has just one off day before the All-Star break.

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"It’s kind of amazing. He really wanted to go out and watch [Aaron] Civale’s side day. That’s the kind of teammate he is," Francona said of Bieber, who is 7-4 with a 3.28 ERA. "He’s never gone through anything before, so I think there’s some unknowns. Everything you’ve ever heard me say about him, that’s who he is. And I have no doubt he will knock this out of the park.

"He didn’t want to go on the IL. That’s the kind of teammate he is. We just said we want you to have a long, healthy career. And we don’t want him limping through it. That’s not fair to him.”

Cleveland already had enough question marks to worry about regarding the rotation. Bieber's absence only adds a couple gallons of gasoline to that fire.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Indians at www.beaconjournal.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland's Shane Bieber placed on injured list with shoulder strain