ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Devon Travis is expected to rejoin the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday after recovering from a shoulder injury that’s kept him out of the lineup for more than a month.
The second baseman has been rehabbing at triple-A Buffalo and the team has been waiting for him to regain his timing at the plate before activating him. After a slow start, Travis now has four hits and four walks in six games, setting the stage for his return.
“I think so, yeah,” manager John Gibbons said Wednesday. “I would guess that’s probably going to happen. That’s kind of the plan, anyway.”
Travis, 24, started the season strong and in 36 games has batted .271/.336/.504 with seven homers and 26 RBIs. But at the beginning of May in Cleveland, he took a Brandon Moss smash off the collarbone and ended up hurting his shoulder compensating for it at the plate.
Once back, the Blue Jays plan to slot into the lower part of the batting order after using him in the leadoff spot briefly during Jose Reyes’ absence earlier in the season.
“He was struggling there at the end because of his shoulder before we finally sat him down, but for the longest time he was leading our team in RBIs,” said Gibbons. “He seemed to always be getting that big, big hit. He was in the bottom of the lineup and turning it over for those guys up top, was playing good defence – I mean, he was doing everything. We know we have a good player, hopefully he’s ready to go when we get him back.”
Travis’ return will bump Ryan Goins out of regular duty, but Gibbons intends to use the slick infielder to spell Travis, Reyes and even third baseman Josh Donaldson plus occasional duty in the outfield.
“He has done a tremendous job, I think that role right there is really a great role for him because he’s such a good defender,” said Gibbons. “You can put him anywhere and he’s good. But he’s played so well we’ve got to make sure that we keep him active.”
