TORONTO — The timeline for Jose Reyes’ return to the Toronto Blue Jays’ roster remains unclear, but the team doesn’t currently plan to activate him before mid-week.
Reyes is scheduled to play in games for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons Sunday and Monday, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said on MLB Network Radio.
The Blue Jays tentatively plan for Reyes to travel to New Hampshire on Tuesday and play for their double-A affiliate on Wednesday before joining the big league team in Boston Thursday.
“We’ll evaluate it day by day,” Anthopoulos said. “That might change at any time. He feels like he’s getting close.”
The possibility exists that the team could activate him during the upcoming three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, though Reyes may require a bit more time.
“He’s very close,” Anthopoulos said. “He’s day to day at this point. No more than a week tops.”
Manager John Gibbons said after Sunday’s game that the team has yet to decide when the shortstop will be activated from his minor-league rehabilitation stint.
“We haven’t decided anything,” Gibbons said.
Anthopoulos said the Blue Jays would like to monitor the 30-year-old’s workload carefully to ensure that he can play every day once activated.
In the meantime, Munenori Kawasaki remains the primary shortstop against right-handed pitching. A sellout crowd of 45,214 chanted Kawasaki’s name repeatedly Sunday in appreciation of the outgoing 32-year-old.
