MLB

Calf-empty: Ellsbury likely won’t face Red Sox

TAMPA — Jacoby Ellsbury told Joe Girardi his tight right calf felt better Monday, but the Yankees manager was still inclined to believe Ellsbury would not play Tuesday against the Red Sox at Steinbrenner Field.

“My guess would be no,” Girardi said of Ellsbury, who was scratched from Sunday’s game against the Braves after notifying the training staff of the discomfort. “But we’ll see. It’s going in the right direction. We’ll see how he feels [Tuesday].”

Ellsbury didn’t have much to say as he strolled through the clubhouse Monday morning, but he appeared to be walking fine and wasn’t wearing anything to protect his calf.

On Sunday, he insisted he could have played, but the Yankees decided to act cautiously — especially given the importance of Ellsbury’s speed to his overall game.

General manager Brian Cashman said Sunday Ellsbury could be out the rest of the week, depending on how the calf responds to treatment.


Girardi hasn’t decided where Masahiro Tanaka’s next start will be. If he stays on schedule, the right-hander would be in line to pitch Friday against the Twins in Fort Myers. The manager seemed to be leaning toward sending Tanaka to Fort Myers, despite it being a lengthy trip, because he wants him to face more major-league competition as opposed to pitching him against minor leaguers in Tampa.

“I think it’s important for him to see the hitters and what he’s going to be facing,” Girardi said.

Tanaka said he didn’t have a preference.

“For me, basically, it’s wherever the manager puts me,” he said through his interpreter. “And I’ll just go out there and do my thing.”

The manager was able to watch some of Tanaka’s performance Sunday against the Braves between innings in Panama and liked what he saw.

“I thought he was pretty good,” Girardi said.

Because of Monday’s rainout, Hiroki Kuroda threw a five-inning, 75-pitch bullpen session to Brian McCann at Steinbrenner Field.

One of the reasons McCann didn’t go to Panama was so he would be able to catch both Tanaka and Kuroda, so he had been slated to be behind the plate for Monday’s game.


Former Yankee Chris Stewart expects Kuroda to bounce back after a terrible latter part of 2013.

“I think it was just fatigue,” said Stewart, who is now with the Pirates. “No one was better the first few months, and then he just wasn’t able to execute his pitches there toward the end. There’s no reason I could see where he couldn’t get back to that early-season level”


Girardi continues to have simple goals for Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter this spring.

“Everything for me has been that they’re healthy,” Girardi said. “Knock on wood, they haven’t had any setbacks. You try to get them [games] three days in a row, but with that last week, it might be a little bit difficult with the road trips.”


While there seems to be ample reason for concern about Kelly Johnson’s defense at third base, Girardi insists he’s confident Johnson will be OK.

“I liked what he’s done,” Girardi said. “As we enter the season, I think he’s going to do a good job. I don’t have a lot of concerns about it.”

— Additional reporting by Ken Davidoff