Josh Donaldson is reportedly more than a week away from joining the Cleveland Indians for game action.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Indians plan to put the newly-acquired third baseman on the 10-day disabled list and send him back on a rehab assignment, as he had been doing with the Toronto Blue Jays before they dealt him.
#Indians planning to place Donaldson on DL, source tells The Athletic. Would go on rehab assignment, be out minimum of 10 days and miss series in Toronto at end of this week.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 3, 2018
Donaldson had to be certified as healthy to go on revocable trade waivers. #Indians had to be comfortable with his medicals to acquire him. But another rehab assignment always was likely. Donaldson has played total of 11 minor-league innings since last MLB appearance on May 28.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 3, 2018
As Rosenthal notes, it ensures Donaldson won’t make Cleveland’s scheduled trip to Toronto this coming weekend. It also means the earliest Donaldson could be activated and called up would likely be sometime around the middle of next week.
Cleveland probably would’ve preferred to get Donaldson to the majors as quickly as possible so they can sort out their defensive alignment with him around and get that working before the playoffs start. They are looking like they won’t have a ton of time to do so now.
