ATLANTA – The Toronto Blue Jays are pushing back Troy Tulowitzki’s return to the lineup, feeling the shortstop needs more rehabilitation action before his activation from the disabled list.
Manager John Gibbons also said Wednesday that he "might have jumped the gun the other day," when he suggested that Josh Donaldson could be ready by the weekend in Baltimore.
Neither player has suffered a setback, Gibbons said, but each needs more time before coming back.
Tulowitzki, working his way back from a strained right hamstring, has appeared in a couple of rehab games with single-A Dunedin, playing five innings at shortstop Monday and six innings as the DH on Tuesday. He was due to be off Wednesday.
"We thought maybe Tulo (would be ready for Thursday) but he may need a couple more days," said Gibbons. "We figured he needs a couple more (rehab games)."
Donaldson, making progress on his right calf strain, has yet to start a rehab assignment and it’s unclear when he might begin one.
"I probably got a little bit too excited," said Gibbons, quipping later: "You keep asking over and over and sooner or later I break."
Catcher Russell Martin, recovering from a nerve issue in his left shoulder that sapped the strength from his arm, won’t be activated when he’s first eligible to come off the DL on Thursday, but Gibbons noted that he is "making progress, nothing definite yet."
Toward that end, Martin caught Aaron Sanchez’s side session Wednesday, was slated to sit in the bullpen and catch pitchers warming up as a way to get some extra work and increase his physical base. He’s also due to catch Francisco Liriano’s side session Thursday, the lefty’s first since hitting the DL with shoulder inflammation this week.
The current thinking is that Martin won’t need a rehab assignment before activation.
J.A. Happ, meanwhile, threw off a mound Wednesday in Dunedin, Fla., for the first time since he left an April 16 start with inflammation in his elbow, reporting that he felt well afterwards.
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