Derek Jeter apparently is tired of waiting for the 2011 season to arrive.
The Yankees’ 36-year-old shortstop will head to Tampa in two weeks to work with hitting coach Kevin Long, getting a head start on spring training.
“He wants to get going,” Long said yesterday from his home in Arizona, confirming a report by The Post’s Joel Sherman last month during the Winter Meetings.
Long has done off-season hitting sessions in the past few years with several players, but never Jeter. This seems to be an acknowledgement on Jeter’s part that 2010 was below his standards and he is anxious to fix whatever problems caused him to hit .270.
“We’re well on our way to getting that taken care of and seeing if we can’t speed up the process with him a little bit,” Long said. “I just want to pick up basically where we left off last year and go from there.”
Jeter finished the season strong, hitting in 19 of his final 20 games and in seven of the team’s nine playoff games after putting up the worst numbers in his career.
“I think we found something with his stride and the direction of his stride and going up and down with his stride instead of gaining distance and going in,” Long said. “We’re going to try to keep it as simple as we can, try to control his movement and try to get him to be more consistent through the contact point.”
Jeter had turbulent contract negotiations with the Yankees before agreeing to a new three-year deal in December. Long said he and Jeter planned these sessions at the end of last season, then firmed them up the plan over the last month.
Jeter and Long will be getting a three-week jump on spring training. The Yankees’ first full-squad workout is not until Feb. 20.
Tampa is just one stop on Long’s cross-country tour. He spent last week in Los Angeles working with outfielders Nick Swisher and Colin Curtis. Next week, he’ll be in New York to work with first baseman Mark Teixeira.
He also plans on going to Miami to work with Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada before spring training starts.
New catcher Russell Martin has spoken with Long, but they have not worked together yet because Martin is still recovering from December knee surgery.
*
At the owners meetings in Arizona last night, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman denied a published report that said Andy Pettitte has decided to skip spring training and sit out the start of the 2011 season.
“There is no new information on Andy Pettitte,” said Cashman, who is still waiting a final decision from the left-hander on whether he will pitch this season.