Derek Jeter is out at least the next few days with a sore left ankle, and manager Joe Girardi didn’t rule out the possibility the Yankees shortstop could be shut down for the rest of the season.
“Not right now,” Girardi said of whether the team was considering keeping Jeter off the field for the remainder of 2013. “With the CT scan coming back normal [Saturday], right now we’ll just give him a couple of days.”
If Jeter’s twice-fractured ankle does not improve, the Yankees could change their tune.
His latest setback came in Saturday’s loss to the Red Sox, when Girardi removed Jeter for a pinch runner following his sixth-inning single because the manager didn’t like the way Jeter ran to first base.
Jeter has called 2013 a “nightmare” because of his repeated physical problems trying to recover from the fractured ankle he first suffered during Game 1 of the ALCS last October.
Girardi added he thought Jeter considered this season “probably his worst one ever.”
It’s hard to argue with that, since the 39-year-old has been limited to 17 games.
“To have to live through this, you can go back to when he was six years old because he loves to be out there and he loves to compete and this is the time he loves to be out there probably more than any,” Girardi said. “And it’s been difficult on him.”
With the Yankees fighting to stay alive in the wild-card race, they will have to wrestle with what to do with Jeter the rest of the way.
“My hope is that after a few days, we can get it calmed down and get him back out there,” Girardi said, “but we’ve got to really go day-by-day with what you do with him.
“I think I’ve somewhat altered [my expectations of him] over the last couple of years, giving him more days off. But I think at this point, with the way his ankle has been, I think you have to watch him even closer than before.”
That will likely lead to unpleasant conversations with the shortstop.
“I know he’s frustrated and wants to be out there,” Girardi said. “It’s tearing him up inside. As much as he doesn’t like it and wants to be out there, I think he understands we’re trying to get a couple days to calm it down and see where we’re at.”
Eduardo Nunez took Jeter’s spot at short and likely will stay there until Jeter is able to return.
That could be a while, and Girardi doesn’t know how Jeter will deal with this situation.
“I don’t think you’ll ever get him to concede,” Girardi said. “One of the things that have made him great is his ability to fight through things and to find a way to get it done even when he might be too banged up.”