Curtis Granderson had a pin removed from his broken left hand Thursday, which means he’s a little closer to returning to the Yankees. It also means the team is likely to have more misfortune any day now.
“It’s been interesting across the board as far as something good happens, something bad kind of happens, both on the injury side and the baseball side,” Granderson said before the Yankees’ 6-2 win over the Rays last night. “But it’s the middle of June and we’re right in the thick of it, which is exactly where you want to be.”
Granderson, though, would rather be in the lineup.
He played in just eight games after recovering from the fractured right forearm he suffered during his first at-bat of spring training before he was hit by a pitch again in Tampa Bay on May 24, sidelining him a second time.
While he’s not experiencing pain or soreness, Granderson’s recovery has a long way to go, and the Yankees could desperately use his power.
“Once I can open and close my hand fully, which I can’t yet because I just got the pin out, then I can start gripping and swinging the bat,” Granderson said.
He’ll still have to go through tee-and-toss and regular batting practice.
“It’s just a matter of when I can open and close [my left hand] and … I can barely open it now,” said Granderson, who played in five games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after his previous injury. “The good thing is it hasn’t totally been immobile, so I don’t have to build up my whole arm strength. All I’ve got to do is catch with this hand and guide the bat with it.”
He’ll likely head back to Tampa next week, where he will rejoin Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez at the team’s minor league complex.
And he doesn’t intend to alter his approach at the plate despite losing so much of the season to injuries caused by getting plunked.
“Even [general manager Brian] Cashman asked me today, ‘How do you think you’re going to be?’” Granderson said. “I said, ‘I’m going to be ready to dig in and go from there.’ That’s the only thing I can do.”
He could slightly adjust where he stands at the plate, but nothing drastic.
“I may move one way or the other, but I’m not going to go from where I am to the complete opposite side of the box or something like that,” Granderson said.