Rasmus may land on DL with injured oblique

TORONTO -- Colby Rasmus is in danger of requiring a stint on the 15-day disabled list if his injured oblique muscle doesn't improve soon.

Toronto's center fielder missed his second consecutive game Tuesday night and is being held out of all baseball activities. The real test will come Wednesday morning, but if he's not healthy enough to hit in a cage then he'll likely require an extended period of time off.

Rasmus suffered the injury while checking his swing during an at-bat against Oakland's A.J. Griffin on Saturday. Rasmus has dealt with oblique injuries before, so he knows all too well how they can linger without appropriate rest and treatment.

"I've had oblique injuries throughout playing and it's nothing to play with," Rasmus said. "There were times when I played through it and it wasn't the best thing for me and the ballclub. So this time I'm just going to make sure I do right and minimize the time."

The loss of Rasmus would be another serious blow to the Blue Jays. especially considering he has become one of the club's best hitters in recent months.

Since the beginning of July, Rasmus is hitting .331 with four homers, 14 doubles and 22 RBIs while posting an .899 OPS over 36 games. It's one of the best stretches of his career and he remains one of Toronto's only position players to have exceeded expectations this year.

Rasmus was hoping to resume baseball activities Tuesday, but when he woke up and felt a sharp pain while sneezing it became apparent that wouldn't be the case. There isn't much that can be done besides rest, which makes it all the more likely he'll be forced to hit the DL in the coming days.

"I don't have a magic equation for it," Rasmus said. "I'm just going to try and feel it out and take my time with it. If it keeps bothering me, then I'm going to shut it down."

The Blue Jays have a couple of options at their disposal to replace Rasmus, but the early favorite likely is outfield prospect Kevin Pillar.

Pillar is hitting .303 with four homers and 27 RBIs in 51 games for Triple-A Buffalo. He would likely start in left with Rajai Davis and Emilio Bonifacio splitting time in center field.

Another candidate is outfielder Anthony Gose, but the 23-year-old has fallen down the organization's depth chart amidst a disappointing season in Buffalo. Gose is hitting just .237 with an alarming 118 strikeouts in 384 at-bats for the Bisons.