Gibbons: Donaldson may need more than 10 days on DL

It appears as though Josh Donaldson's troublesome shoulder may need a little more time to heal.

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Wednesday afternoon that he doesn't expect his All-Star third baseman to be activated from the disabled list once his minimum 10-day stint expires Saturday, according to Laura Armstrong of the Toronto Star.

It's not clear how much longer the 32-year-old might need before returning to action.

Donaldson has been battling shoulder woes since spring training, and was forced to shift to designated hitter for a few games during the first week of the season after experiencing a "dead arm" that curtailed his throwing abilities at third base. Although he's played in the field since that episode, Donaldson experienced some shoulder inflammation last week that led the Blue Jays to put him on the DL. Gibbons stated at the time that he didn't believe Donaldson would require a long DL stint.

Donaldson was off to a solid start at the plate before getting hurt, with a .239/.352/.457 slash line, three homers, nine RBIs, and eight walks through his first 12 games.

Toronto did have one positive piece of injury news, though: Gibbons said that DH Kendrys Morales - who's been shelved since last week with a hamstring issue - is expected to return from the DL once he's eligible Friday.