There’s hope that right-hander Jameson Taillon can rejoin the Toronto Blue Jays’ injury-depleted rotation next week, manager John Schneider told reporters on Tuesday.

Taillon, placed on the 15-day IL with right forearm tendinitis on Aug. 11, is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Buffalo on Friday. The 34-year-old starter will be aiming for roughly 50 pitches in that outing, per Schneider. If all goes well, he’ll return during next week’s three-game series in Cleveland against the Guardians.

The timing of this development is significant, considering the Blue Jays just lost Shane Bieber — who’ll be shut down from throwing for at least a couple of weeks — to a right teres major injury, which could sideline him for the rest of this season. Hopefully, this means they can return to five healthy starters again following the current turn through the rotation.

It is worth noting, however, that Taillon won’t be fully stretched out after just one Triple-A rehab start. Ideally, he’d have two or three volume-building outings down there. But since that luxury isn’t available, they’ll have to build him up on the fly while facing major-league hitters.

Since arriving via trade from the Chicago Cubs, Taillon has made a pair of starts with the Blue Jays, allowing three runs on seven hits and five walks while recording seven strikeouts across eight combined innings. He made his most recent start against the Boston Red Sox on Aug. 10, tossing four shutout innings of one-hit ball.

Overall, the veteran hurler owns a 5.68 ERA and 6.54 FIP across 17 starts split between Chicago and Toronto, posting an 11.9 per cent strikeout-minus-walk rate (K-BB%) over 84 innings. He’s in the final season of a four-year, $68 million contract and will become a free agent this winter.

Schneider also revealed that Josh Smith (left hamstring inflammation) will participate in full on-field team workouts at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday. Assuming he operates without any issues, he’ll head to Triple-A on Thursday or Friday to begin a rehab assignment.

Smith could also return from the IL in Cleveland next week, as he’s first eligible to be activated on Aug. 31.

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