ANAHEIM, Calif. — Kevin Youkilis was placed on the disabled list yesterday with a lower back issue, and because it’s the second episode in about seven weeks, you have to wonder what the Yankees will get out of the 34-year-old corner infielder.
Youkilis was on the DL from April 27 to May 30 with a lumbar spine sprain. Though he said the back wasn’t the reason he didn’t hit since returning to the lineup, when he woke up yesterday with numbness in his legs, he called the trainer Steve Donohue.
“I want to play, this stinks,’’ said Youkilis, whose spot on the roster was taken by outfielder Thomas Neal, who started in right field last night against Angels lefty C.J. Wilson at Angel Stadium. “But I have to worry about my health.’’
Youkilis will be examined Monday by back specialist Robert Watkins.
As for hitting .146 (6-for-41) in the 11 games since coming off the shelf, Youkilis didn’t put it on the back completely and said it wasn’t bothering him until yesterday.
“It was a lot of different reasons. Sometimes you go through ruts,’’ he said before the Yankees’ 5-2 loss to the Angels last night. “I don’t think it’s the sole reason.’’
Asked if he was worried, Youkilis said, “You always worry when you have no feeling. You think about it all day and then the next thing you know they tell you that you need an epidural.’’
Manager Joe Girardi, who battled back problems late in his catching career, is concerned.
“It’s never good when you have referred pain,’’ Girardi said. “Sometimes it can go away quickly and sometimes it takes awhile. Whenever you have a back issue there are always long-term concerns.’’
Youkilis, who went 0-for-7 in Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the A’s in 18 innings, is batting .219 with two homers and eight RBIs in 28 games.
* It’s a step forward, but by no means should Yankees fans get excited that yesterday’s development in Tampa means the shortstop is on the road to the Bronx.
Cleared by Dr. Robert Anderson Thursday in Charlotte to increase baseball activities, Derek Jeter (fractured left ankle) upped the workout intensity at the Yankees’ minor league complex where he hit off a batting tee and swung at underhand soft toss in an indoor batting cage. He also took 13 ground balls on the infield grass. and 23 at deep short, making throws on some of those balls..
“They gave the green light, so that’s encouraging,” Jeter said. “I’m looking forward to it. Everything is a progression. Do more each and every day. … In terms of everyday schedule, I don’t know what that is.
Jeter began working out on the field Jan. 28 and played in five spring training games, accumulating 11 at-bats because of soreness. A second fractured was uncovered April 18.
Girardi said the next test is for Jeter to “go through the sprinting and all that and not go through the pain.’’
The Yankees have said they expect Jeter back after the All-Star break, but Joe Girardi refused to be more specific yesterday.
“I am not putting a time on it because usually when a guy comes to spring training it’s six weeks long,” Girardi said. “We don’t know if he is at the point where he would be at Feb. 15, and he was coming in healthy.”
“He will be here when he gets here, that’s the best thing I can say.’’Jeter originally fractured the left ankle in Game 1 of the ALCS last October against the Tigers. He had surgery later in the month.
* Righty Chris Bootcheck and joined the Yankees in time for the game. Bootcheck allowed one run in an inning of work.
Bootcheck, a first-round pick of the Angels in 2000 who pitched for them from 2003-08, will provide long relief that Warren handled so well. He was 5-2 with a 3.32 ERA in 11 games (all starts) for SWB.
Warren was expendable because he worked six scoreless innings Thursday against the A’s and wouldn’t be ready to pitch again at least until Tuesday.
Neal, who has nine games of big league experience with the Indians last year, batted .339 in 47games for SWB.
To make room on the 40-man roster the Yankees moved Eduardo Nunez from the 15-day DL to the 60 and out-righted lefty reliever Cesar Cabral.
To make room on the 25-man roster the Yankees optioned right-hander Adam Warren to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
* According to Girardi, Alex Rodriguez increased his workload in Tampa.
“Alex did more than he has done, and the discussion we hear is that he is moving better, his lower half is freer,” Girardi said.
Rodriguez took 84 swings in batting practice, took 33 grounders at third and made throws to first and second. He ended the fielding session by charging in several times to field slow grounders and a simulated bunt.
Rodriguez also did six hard sprints at around 90 feet in the outfield.
* Outfielder Curtis Granderson, out with a broken left hand, said he will be examined next week in New York. He is throwing balls but not catching them, and he is running in the outfield.
Michael Pineda, who missed last season after right shoulder surgery, threw in an extended spring training intrasquad game at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ spring training ballpark in Tampa. In 5 2/3 innings, Pineda allowed no runs on three hits, walked one and struck out five. He threw 74 pitches, 57 for strikes. He pitched in his first minor league game last Sunday for Class-A Tampa.
Recent draft picks Ian Clarkin and second baseman Gosuke Katoh were on the field with the Yankees last night before the game against the Angels.
Summer teammates, Clarkin and Katoh will leave Monday for Tampa where they will undergo physicals. Last week Damon Oppenheimer was confident about signing Clarkin.
Clarkin, a left-handed pitcher from James Madison High School in San Diego, was taken in the first round (33) and Katoh, who played at Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, was selected in the second round (60).