Austin Jackson to begin rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo on Monday

Earlier today, the Tigers announced that center fielder Austin Jackson will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo on Monday. Jackson has been on the disabled list since May 12th with a hamstring injury. Updates have been fairly infrequent during Jackson's DL stint, but there were reports from multiple beat writers that Jackson had been participating in light baseball activities over the past week.

The Mud Hens are currently in Rochester, NY for a four-game series and will continue on to play at Syracuse later in the week. The Tigers follow today's game against the Cleveland Indians with a three game series in Kansas City. They have an off day on Thursday, then will play a three game series at Target Field starting on Friday, June 14th. The team has hinted that Jackson may rejoin the team in time for that series, but a more conservative guess would peg him for a return on Monday, June 17th against the Baltimore Orioles.

Leyland set a timetable on Austin Jackson. Said it's possible Jackson could rejoin #Tigers on Friday in Minnesota. Stressed "possible."

— James Schmehl (@jamesschmehl) June 9, 2013

When Jackson returns, 21 year old outfielder Avisail Garcia will likely be optioned back to Toledo. Garcia has performed well in Jackson's absence, hitting .291/.333/.473 with two home runs and 10 RBI in 21 games. He has yet to commit an error in the outfield.

Jackson is hitting .272/.333/.371 in 34 games this season. Prior to his injury, he led the American League with 33 runs scored. He had a solid April, hitting .286/.355/.393, but a .231/.268/.308 pace in May indicated that Jackson's hamstring may have been bugging him for a week or two before he was placed on the disabled list.