TORONTO (AP) -The Cincinnati Reds activated infielder Jerry Hairston Jr. from the 15-day disabled list Thursday.
Hairston broke his left thumb stealing second base in a 9-4 victory over Florida on June 9. He will wear a protective sleeve over his thumb while batting and fielding, and said he may start holding batting gloves while running the bases to help protect his fingers from further injury.
Hairston, who is batting .336 with one homer, 14 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in 40 games, was originally expected to miss as much as four weeks.
“There’s going to be a little discomfort, but that’s just how it is,” Hairston said. “Guys have played with worse. You’ve just got to make no excuses and go out and play.”
Hairston was in the starting lineup, leading off and playing shortstop, as the Reds wrapped up a three-game series in Toronto on Thursday.
Cincinnati lost nine of 14 games with Hairston out of the lineup.
“It’s hard to find a good leadoff man who can hit, get on base and has good speed,” manager Dusty Baker said. “He’s having a heck of a year.”
The Reds optioned infielder Paul Janish to Triple-A Louisville to make room for Hairston. Janish joined the Reds on May 14 and batted .188 with no homers and five RBIs in 31 games.
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