Lawrie to begin rehab assignment on Wednesday

ST. PETERSBURG -- Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie will begin his rehab assignment with Class A Dunedin on Wednesday.

Lawrie has been out since May 27 with a sprained left ankle. He was originally expected to miss just a few days, but the injury was more severe than first anticipated and resulted in a stint on the 15-day disabled list.

Lawrie is expected to need approximately two weeks of Minor League games before rejoining the Blue Jays. The work will start in Dunedin, then eventually include a promotion to Triple-A Buffalo.

The news comes just one day after Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said that Lawrie was likely still two weeks away from a rehab assignment. He misspoke at the time, and general manager Alex Anthopoulos stated later that night the rehab was set to begin Wednesday.

Lawrie hit just .209 with 11 extra-base hits in 37 games for the Blue Jays this year. The prolonged offensive struggles came as somewhat of a surprise, but he still provided well-above average defense at third base.

The 23-year-old is a career .266 hitter with 25 homers and 87 RBIs in 205 games at the big league level.