Gibbons will be patient with returning Lawrie

TORONTO -- Brett Lawrie is finally healthy, but the Blue Jays will exercise some patience when judging his performance at the plate.

Lawrie missed approximately six weeks with a severely sprained left ankle earlier in the year, but returned two games before the All-Star break in Baltimore.

The 23-year-old had just one hit in eight at-bats against the Orioles, but manager John Gibbons was generally pleased with what he saw following such a prolonged absence.

"I don't know if you can look at results, because sometimes you can hit a lot of bleeders out there and your numbers get jacked up a little bit," Gibbons said. "He barrelled a few balls in Baltimore in those two games, but he didn't have much to show for it."

Lawrie hit just .204 with five homers and a .621 OPS in 39 games in the first half and will now attempt to turn his season around while also making a transition to second base.

The native of British Columbia spent the past three years as a third baseman, but has since moved to the middle of the diamond where he used to play while in Milwaukee's Minor League system.

"The key is, he's played that most of his career coming up with Milwaukee," Gibbons said. "That's nothing new to him and now it's just repetition. The big thing is that he has to work with [Jose] Reyes, because that's new to both of them. We'll see how all of that works out. I kind of like the look of it, so we'll see."