CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians are looking at this as a win-win situation. First they get to take a look at pitching prospect Shane Bieber and second it allows them to give Trevor Bauer an extra day's rest after he threw a career-high 127 pitches on Sunday against Houston.

Bieber, a right-hander, will make his big-league debut on Thursday against the Twins at Target Field. The start will come on his 23rd birthday.

Indians Prospective was the first to report the news of Bieber's promotion.

"He'll make a spot start for us on Thursday," said manager Terry Francona after the Indians' 9-6 win over the White Sox on Monday. "I talked to you guys before the game about giving Trevor an extra day.

"It seems like the right time. It will be really good for him to gain some experience. He'll go back (to Columbus) after the start. It will be good for us to get a chance to watch him pitch a major league game.

"Hopefully, he helps us win, but it will be just great experience for him."

Bieber started the season at Class AA Akron where he went 3-0 with a 1.16 ERA (four earned runs in 31 innings). He struck out 30 and walked one in five starts.

The Indians promoted him to Triple-A where he's gone 2-1 with a 1.05 ERA (four earned runs in 34 1/3 innings). He's struck out 31 and walked two.

For the season, Bieber has walked three batters, while striking out 61 in 10 starts, in 65 1/3 innings.

On Friday, Bieber threw a rain-shortened seven-inning no-hitter for Columbus against Gwinnett. He struck out seven and didn't walk a batter. The only runner to reach base against him came on an error by shortstop Eric Stamets.

Francona has not seen Bieber pitch.

"I think Chris Antonetti (president of baseball operations) was afraid to bring him over to big league camp in spring training because we would have wanted to latch on to him," said Francona with a smile. "By all accounts, he's in the mold of (Corey) Kluber. What I mean by that is in his routines and work ethic and poise.

"There are just so many things to like. He's not the finished product. He throws a ton of strikes. There are so many good things, but he's still developing, which is OK. It will be fun to get know him a little bit and watch him."

Bieber, 6-3 and 195 pounds, was the Tribe's fourth round pick in 2016 out of University of California, Santa Barbara. In Bieber's 10 minor league starts this season he threw a combined 73 percent strikes (619-for-846).