Desmond Jennings Injury: Updates on Rays OF's Knee and Return

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Desmond Jennings sustained a knee injury on Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins. 

Continue for updates.

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Jennings Heading Back to the DL

Thursday, August 27

Jennings was back with the Rays for just 10 games after he returned from a three-month stint on the disabled list due to knee surgery. On Tuesday, August 25, Jennings bruised that same knee, according to NBC.com Hardball Talk's Aaron Gleeman, and sat out the next day's game. 

On Thursday, MLB.com's Bill Chastain reported that Jennings is going back on the shelf:

Jennings has played in just 28 games in 2015, batting .268 with one home run and seven RBI, as he has been unable to complete his game. Gleeman described Jennings as having "good speed and defense," but a .249 career batting average with 48 home runs in parts of six seasons has held him back from developing into a truly serviceable player.

Outfielder Joey Butler has been recalled from triple-A to fill Jennings' roster spot a night after he hit two home runs for the Durham Bulls. Butler has appeared in 74 games this season for the Rays, batting .278 with six home runs and 22 RBI. 

Butler could see time in left field split between himself, Daniel Nava and Grady Sizemore. Nava, who has played in 14 games with the Rays since coming over from the Boston Red Sox, and Sizemore are hitting .194 and .232, respectively, for the Rays. 

Bringing on Butler can add a bit more hitting prowess to the position on a Rays team that is still in the thick of the American League playoff race.

With the Toronto Blue Jays surging and the New York Yankees not far behind, the Rays remain 9.0 games out of first in the AL East, but they sit just 3.0 games out of the final wild-card spot held by the Twins.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com