TAMPA – Mariano Rivera was amped about his right shoulder. And that was prior to winning two titles in manager Joe Girardi’s First Annual World Championship of Pool.
“It’s feeling strong and now I am building muscle,” Rivera said of the shoulder, which was operated on after last season. “I have been throwing, playing long toss and it’s getting better every day.”
The next step for Rivera is to get on a bullpen mound, but he isn’t sure when that will occur.
“I don’t want to push it,” said Rivera, who vowed on the first day of spring training he would be ready by Opening Day, April 6.
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Jorge Posada will be honored by the Ted Williams Hitting Hall of Fame on March 20 in St. Petersburg, Fla. The catcher was equally excited about receiving an award for his work with the Jorge Posada Foundation, which assists families of children with craniosynostosis and programs for children in New York and Puerto Rico, and getting a bat autographed by Ted Williams.
Like Rivera, Posada has been encouraged with the progress of his right shoulder, after an even more complicated surgery than Rivera’s.
“To tell you the truth when I started throwing (in December) it was like a ping pong ball against the air, I wasn’t feeling it,” Posada said. “It’s a different feeling to throw and feel the weight.”
Most encouraging to Posada is the fact he has been pain-free after heavy throwing days, like Sunday. Posada won’t catch until March 15.
“What I saw (Sunday), he was substantially different than four or five days ago,” Girardi said. “His velocity was good, I was thrilled.”
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Derek Jeter took ground balls and batting practice in the cage, but didn’t run. Jeter didn’t run Sunday, either, due to a sore right hamstring. . . . Hideki Matsui began a running program yesterday and said he felt good after operating at 50-70 percent on his surgically repaired right knee for the first time in camp.
Edwar Ramirez was stuffed into the Carl Pavano Memorial MRI Tube to see what is ailing his right shoulder. The Yankees expect to have results today. Ramirez had to shut down a bullpen session Sunday after six pitches.
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Girardi played for the Yankees and was a coach under Joe Torre, so he believed he had an idea of what it would be like to manage last year, his first. Instead, he learned there is nothing like sitting in the chair as the Yankees’ manager.
“You don’t know what it’s like until you sit there,” Girardi said. “I had a much better understanding when I did that than the other ways.”