Rays' Yonny Chirinos: Cleared for baseball activities

Chirinos (finger) was cleared to resume baseball activities Wednesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

This is encouraging news for the right-hander, who has been shut down since landing on the shelf with right middle finger inflammation near the beginning of August. Chirinos is expected to resume playing catch over the weekend; a timetable for his return will likely come into focus as he ramps up his throwing.