Indians expect to activate Josh Donaldson from DL on Tuesday
The Tribe’s newly acquired star 3B might make his debut following tonight’s rehab assignment in Double-A Akron and a workout in Tampa on Sunday.
The Indians have received some good news, as their newly acquired star third baseman Josh Donaldson is expect to be activated from the disabled list on Tuesday, according to Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com.
Josh Donaldson will play third base for Class AA Akron on Saturday. Then he'll fly to Tampa to workout before joining the Indians on Monday at Tropicana Field. Expected to be activated on Tuesday.
— paul hoynes (@hoynsie) September 8, 2018
The Indians nabbed Donaldson on the final day of the waiver deadline from the Blue Jays, despite him being sidelined with a left calf strain since June 1 (retroactive to May 29).
If all goes well with his final rehab assignment, something that is no guarantee given that he had a setback during one of his previous rehab assignments, Donaldson may get his first action in the second game of the Indians’ three-game series with the Rays. For the Tribe’s sake, they hope Donaldson can get back to being the player that was the 2015 AL MVP and a three-time All-Star.
The 32-year-old Donaldson had proved he was worth having in the lineup, as he had hit over 20 homers in five straight seasons and had over 90 RBI in four of those campaigns. His play earned him an arbitration-record one-year, $23 million deal for 2018.
Right now, the Indians are a virtual lock to win the AL Central, as they have an 80-61 record and lead the Twins by 15 1⁄2 games. However, they hope his bat can come in handy in the postseason, where they have to try to get through a loaded American League in which the four other possible playoff teams, the Red Sox, Yankees, Astros and Athletics, all have better records this year than them.