TORONTO -- Scott Rolen successfully underwent surgery to have a pin removed from his broken right middle finger on Monday and the Blue Jays third baseman has been cleared to add more baseball-related activities to his schedule.

"He'll start handling the bat and things like that -- whatever he feels comfortable doing," said Jays manager John Gibbons, referring to Rolen. "The doc did his job."

When the Jays visit Baltimore on April 14, Rolen will rejoin the club on the road in order to visit hand specialist Dr. Thomas Graham. Graham performed surgery to repair a non-displaced fracture of Rolen's finger on March 24, inserting the pin into the third baseman's middle finger to help stabilize the bone, which was broken during a routine fielding drill one day earlier.

On Tuesday, Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi said that, while in Baltimore with the Jays, Rolen will attempt to take batting practice and hopefully participate in throwing drills. The 33-year-old Rolen has already begun to field ground balls without making throws.

"He's doing some rehab stuff and he has the pin out," Ricciardi said. "He's going to meet us in Baltimore and see his hand guy again. Then, hopefully he can start taking ground balls and throwing and everything with us.

"At that point, we'll assess it and see if he needs a [Minor League] rehab assignment."

The best case scenario for the Jays is to have Rolen back in action with the team before the end of the month. Graham initially informed Rolen that his recovery could take between four to six weeks, meaning the third baseman might be able to rejoin Toronto some time between April 21-May 5.

In the wake of Rolen's injury, utilityman Marco Scutaro has been handling third base duties for the Jays. Gibbons has been pleased with the play of Scutaro, who has started at third in each of Toronto's seven games this year. The 32-year-old Scutaro has stolen three bases and scored five runs for the Jays, playing solid defense as well.

"He's been great over there," said Gibbons. "He's made every play and he's made great plays. Scutaro, you can't take him lightly. He's got great hands and a good arm and he's confident."

When Rolen eventually returns, Gibbons said he would continue to try to work Scutaro into the lineup when possible.

"We'll be conscious of trying to get him as much time as we can," Gibbons said.