TORONTO — Shane Bieber reconnected with his Toronto Blue Jays teammates Friday, did some throwing on the field, packed up his gear and bounced, off to Worcester to join triple-A Buffalo for his latest rehab outing. 

“Raring to go,” he said as he zipped up an equipment bag. “Just a matter of pitch count right now, building up innings and volume. I feel great. As hard as it is to say patient, it's going according to plan.”

Bieber will be aiming for four innings or so Saturday in his third rehab start, part of the cavalcade of reinforcements nearing a return to the Blue Jays. Dylan Cease, fresh off his rehab start Thursday, was also back in the clubhouse and his next start “very likely could be here,” said manager John Schneider, on Tuesday, the first day he’s eligible to come off the injured list. The same could hold for Max Scherzer, who sat 93.4 m.p.h. Friday while throwing 73 pitches, allowing three runs in 3.2 innings for Buffalo. 

With Alejandro Kirk catching at low-A Dunedin as he builds up, a “locker room that's been hobbled, so to speak, for the majority of the year can kind of see things hopefully rounding into shape here soon,” said Bieber. “Happy to be a part of that.”

What the Blue Jays’ situation looks like by the time they’re all back, assuming there are no setbacks, is still an open question. 

Given how hard injuries have struck, they’ve done well to not let their season unravel to the degree the Detroit Tigers,........

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