MOOSIC, Pa. — And just like that, Alex Rodriguez’s return to the Yankees in Texas tomorrow now appears to be in doubt.
Scheduled to start at third base last night for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Rodriguez was shifted to designated hitter shortly before game time with what the Yankees called tightness in his left quad.
Still, he hasn’t ruled out making his goal of being on the field in Arlington tomorrow.
Asked if that was in jeopardy, a despondent Rodriguez said, “I don’t think so. I’m optimistic that [tomorrow’s] our day.”
With his 20-day rehab stint set to expire after today’s game, time is running short for the Yankees and their aging third baseman.
Despite the injury, Rodriguez still played in the RailRiders’ 2-1, 10-inning loss to Louisville at PNC Field. Serving as the DH, he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He hit a line drive to right that was caught in the first and never tested the quad.
“I didn’t think it was that bad,” Rodriguez said of why he didn’t take the night off.
And he spoke to Yankees brass before the game.
“They all know,” Rodriguez said. “We called them right before the game and told them we would be DH-ing today and they said, ‘Do whatever you need to do, as long as you get up here.’”
But he sounded doubtful about playing for SWB today.
“I think it’s just a matter of how I wake up in the morning,” Rodriguez said. “[Today] might be a good treatment day and then strap it up [tomorrow].”
Rodriguez also left open the possibility that he will skip tomorrow’s game against the Rangers — something general manager Brian Cashman has done repeatedly.
“Even if [tomorrow] is in jeopardy, there’s always Tuesday,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez looked fine during pregame yesterday taking grounders and in batting practice and said he felt the tightness only when he was running.
He also acknowledged he may have suffered the injury when he tried to stretch a line drive into a double Friday and was thrown out sliding into second.
“That’s what I woke up thinking,” Rodriguez said. “It was the first time I slid in a long time like that in a game, but the same quad bothered me a little bit last week. … I think it should be OK. I recovered nicely last week and I should recover nicely this week.”
His brief bit of optimism notwithstanding, quad injuries can linger. Derek Jeter landed on the disabled list because of one after just one game back.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi tried his best to be positive after learning the news.
“I would think it’s [mild],” the manager said after the Yankees beat the Red Sox 5-2 at Fenway Park. “I would hope so. We haven’t had necessarily so many strained muscles.’’
Girardi knocked on his wooden desk as continued.
“There’s been bones [and] surgeries,’’ Girardi said.
When someone told Girardi to give it more time, the manager replied: “That’s why I knocked.’’
In three games with SWB, Rodriguez played third base only once, on Thursday, and didn’t have any chances. He’s 3-for-12 with a homer at Triple-A and 8-for-40 overall.
With skepticism already existing that Rodriguez would be physically ready to play in the majors by tomorrow, Rodriguez was asked about the timing of the injury.
“Ask whoever’s saying that,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t know.”
And while he continued to sound like he intended to go to Texas tomorrow, Rodriguez acknowledged he was displeased about the development.
“It’s been a long road,” Rodriguez said. “And obviously I’m just down about it.”
— Additional reporting by Kevin Kernan in Boston