MINNEAPOLIS – Joe Girardi didn’t put Derek Jeter‘s name in today’s lineup card but expects his captain to be at short Friday night.
“I would be shocked if he didn’t play Friday,” Girardi said of Jeter, whose sore left foot kept him on the bench today.
Jeter suffered the injury when he fouled a ball off the instep in the fourth inning of last night’s 9-6 win over the Twins in 12 innings. Despite a heavy limp Jeter remained in the game until the ninth when Girardi figured Jeter was a liability running the bases.
Jeter went 3-for-5 and was placed on a cart to exit the Metrodome. When he reported to work this morning Jeter was limping slightly and spent the entire pre-game session receiving treatment.
********
Joe Girardi didn’t sound like a man ready to welcome Phil Hughes or Carl “American Idle” Pavano into his rotation. Each will make at least one more minor league start Sunday.
“He is getting close to where he needs to be, he is not where he needs to be,” Girardi said of Hughes, who pitched 5 1/3rd innings for SWB (Triple-A) Tuesday night.
Hughes could be recalled to face the Orioles on Aug. 23.
As for Pavano, Girardi wasn’t impressed by the reports from Pavano’s 4 1/3rd inning stint for Trenton (Double-A) Tuesday night.
“He was okay, he got hit around a bit,” Girardi said of Pavano, who is attempting to come back from Tommy John surgery. His 30-day rehab assignment finishes Aug. 27. “This is like spring training for these guys. For Carl, he hasn’t pitched in a year and three months. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Carl.”
Hughes started the season 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA, was placed on the DL with a fractured rib and was then optioned to Charleston(Single-A) on July 30.