According to Chris Toman of MLB.com, the Blue Jays have cleared slugger Edwin Encarnacion to begin a minor league rehab assignment tonight with High-A Dunedin.
Encarnacion has been sidelined since July 5 with a right quad strain. His timeline got pushed back a bit following a minor setback late last month, but he now appears on track to rejoin the Blue Jays at some point next week.
Encarnacion, 31, was batting .277/.368/.591 with 26 home runs and 70 RBI over 88 games prior to the injury. The Blue Jays are 14-15 during his absence and have dropped six out of seven. They enter play this afternoon at 61-56 on the year, six games behind the Orioles in the AL East and 1 1/2 games back in the Wild Card race.