NEW YORK (AP) -Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter responded to being left out of the lineup Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers by smiling.
Jeter entertained a crowd of reporters at his locker in the Yankees clubhouse with mock answers to question not yet asked as he was dressing for pregame warmups.
“No, I’m not hurt. I’ll let you know tomorrow. Wish I had a story for you but he just wanted to give me a day off,” Jeter said.
Jeter was referring to his manager, Joe Girardi, who gave the captain the news on his way home from the ballpark after New York’s 2-1 loss to Texas on Monday night.
“I just told him he played a lot of baseball in the last seven, eight days, you know with the split doubleheader and him playing every inning,” Girardi said. “I just thought it best to give him a day off before the (All-Star) break.”
Jeter was 0-for-4 in the loss Monday, ending his streak of reaching base at 28 games. The Yankees had played eight consecutive days, including the two-park doubleheader against the Mets Friday after the team arrived home from Pittsburgh in the middle of the night. Jeter had not missed a game since he had a strained quadriceps in early April.
“I’m fine. No issues,” Jeter said. “I think I’m swinging the bat pretty good. What do you think?”
Jeter, who turned 34 on Thursday, was 4-for-16 against the Mets, and is hitting .280 – almost 40 points below his career average – with four homers and 35 RBIs overall.
The Yankees have only one scheduled day off before the July 14-15 All-star break. They lost one day, July 10, when they waited out the rain in Pittsburgh Thursday night before the game was called late.
Jeter doesn’t readily admit to feeling fatigued but he did concede that the four-game weekend series against the Mets might have affected him Monday.
“Yesterday it hit you a little more maybe,” he said.
Girardi said he is rotating days off among his starters. Johnny Damon, who’s been nursing a sore left arch, was given Monday off. He was the designated hitter Tuesday with speedy rookie Brett Gardner starting in left for the second game since his callup Monday and batted second in Jeter’s usual spot.
Gardner should see significant time with Hideki Matsui on the disabled list with an injured knee. Girardi said the youngster was up to play so as not to hinder his development.
Matsui might take batting practice Thursday or Friday, but Girardi would not rule out surgery for the left fielder/designated hitter.
“You have to wait and see when he starts going through baseball conditions to see how it responds,” Girardi said.
Add A Comment