Miguel Amaya Injury: Likely to return next week

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday that he expects Amaya (oblique) to return from the 60-day injured list ahead of the team's series in Toronto early next week, Mike McGraw of the Chicago Daily Herald reports.

Amaya has been shelved since May 25 due to a left oblique strain but is nearing the finish line in his recovery after he was cleared to begin a rehab assignment July 22. After spending the first three games of his assignment in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League, Amaya has moved up to Triple-A Iowa for his last six contests and has gone 5-for-16 with a 2:4 BB:K and no extra-base hits during that stretch. Once he's reinstated from the IL, Amaya will likely displace Reese McGuire as the top backup to No. 1 catcher Carson Kelly.