TORONTO -- Blue Jays manager John Gibbons indicated on Monday that closer B.J. Ryan has finally been given the go-ahead to pitch on consecutive days, if needed.

After consulting with Dr. Timothy Kremchek, who performed Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on Ryan's left elbow on May 10 last season, it was determined that the pitcher has progressed well enough to take on a heavier workload.

"We can go back-to-back with him now," Gibbons said. "We feel he's ready to go. The doctor said he thinks it's OK, but we'll watch it. If he goes out there and, say he pitches tonight, and he throws a lot of pitches, of course we're not going to do it."

Another thing that Gibbons said Toronto won't do this year is use Ryan for more than one inning in any outing. In 2006, when Ryan posted a 1.37 ERA and saved 38 games in his first season with the Jays, the left-hander led the Majors with 13 multi-inning saves.

"You wont see him in more than one inning," Gibbons said. "You don't want him to come over here [to the dugout] and cool off and then go back out there. That's one thing we want to stay away from."

Ryan, who signed a five-year, $47 million contract prior to the 2006 season, has allowed no runs and has been perfect in four save chances within seven relief appearances so far this season. Last year, Ryan made only five April outings before being sidelined with the season-ending elbow injury.