Blue Jays’ Josh Donaldson to rejoin the team tomorrow

It sounds like Josh Donaldson is going to be back with the Blue Jays this weekend for their series with the Washington Nationals, returning from the DL.

The Blue Jays could definitely use a boost to their offence, and the player most capable of giving them such a thing is going to be back on the field this weekend. The Blue Jays confirmed on Thursday afternoon that Josh Donaldson had left their rehab facility and was set to join the team this weekend before they face off against the Washington Nationals.

Donaldson’s return comes at a time when the offence has been scuffling pretty badly, and hopefully the 2015 AL MVP can give them the lift their sorely need. He hasn’t hit all that well when he has been healthy enough to be on the field this year, but hopefully he’s 100% healthy this time and ready to get back to punishing pitchers across baseball.

After going 9-19 in May, the Blue Jays are 5-7 so far in June, and really only have the four game sweep of the Orioles to look to as far as positive momentum goes. Their most recent showing at Tropicana Field went the way it seems to always go against the Rays, and they were handed a sweep right back to them after beating up on the Orioles.

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The recent winning drought has put Donaldson’s return into a different light than it may have a few weeks ago. Rather than their best player returning to the lineup to help them get back into the playoff picture, it’s more likely he’s now going to be setting himself up as a trade candidate, especially because his contract expires at season’s end. There was a lot of debate about whether the Blue Jays should have dealt him during this past winter, and in hindsight they’d likely be better off if they had. Still though, assuming Donaldson can show that he’s healthy and able to perform at an elite level, he should net the Blue Jays a pretty solid return at the deadline if they’re able to trade him.

In the mean time, they could definitely use him this weekend against the Nationals, who are going to be rolling out elite starts like Max Scherzer and Gio Gonzalez. Hopefully it’ll be the first chance for Donaldson to improve on his .234/.333/.423 slash line, and improve on the just five home runs and 16 RBI he’s accumulated so far.

At just 32 year’s old and coming off the MVP calibre performance we witnessed from him last season down the stretch, it’s hard to imagine he’ll go anywhere but up from here. Hopefully he can put the calf and shoulder issues behind him for good and get back to helping this team win a few games.

Next: Trade then re-sign Happ, a la the Yankees and Chapman