TORONTO — Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy, who had been on the disabled list for nearly six weeks, could begin a minor league rehab assignment in the upcoming days.
"He's getting close," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "I'm not going to jinx him or anything, but we'll see how today and tomorrow go. He's getting close. …. Anything is possible. We will see how the next couple days go."
Hardy has been rehabbing a fractured bone in his left foot at the team's spring training facility in Sarasota and he's now doing all baseball activities, including some simulated-game action.
"He's kind of doing that now already," Showalter said. "His next step would be going on a rehab assignment. Not a whole lot is going to be gained by him by playing down there. We wouldn't activate the rehab thing unless we knew he was ready for it physically. [I'm] just leaning on him and [Florida rehab coordinator] Dave Walker and when they say 'go,' he'll go."
If Hardy is ready to head north following Monday's workout, he could report to Double-A Bowie, which opens a three-game series against Portland at home on Tuesday.
Showalter wouldn't project how many rehab games Hardy would need before he's ready to be activated from the DL, but he said Hardy would ideally be ready by the time Manny Machado's four-game suspension appeal is heard.
"It would be nice if kind of came at the same time as Manny," Showalter said. "We'll see. We probably won't be that fortunate because nobody knows what Manny's timeframe will be."
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