When Derek Jeter was in the lineup at shortstop Saturday, Joe Girardi was asked if it was safe to assume Jeter wouldn’t be at short Sunday night.
“I wouldn’t assume anything, we will see,’’ Girardi said. “We are facing a lefty [Saturday]. The times I have given him the day game [off] after a night game it was against a right-hander. And our team is constructed a little bit different.’’
With Michael Pineda suspended the Yankees are playing with 24 players instead of 25 and reserve infielder Dean Anna was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in order to get to 24. That leaves Girardi with only Yangervis Solarte as Jeter’s back-up.
“I am sure at some point I will play him at short,’’ Girardi said of the switch-hitting Solarte, who wasn’t in the lineup Saturday against Angels lefty Hector Santiago partly because his right shoulder was sore after diving Friday night.
Jeter, who started all but five games in April, will be off with the rest of the team Monday when there is no game.
Jeter went 1-for-4 in Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Angels and has hit safely in 16 of the 19 games he has played in this year.
Girardi promised at the start of spring training that he would look for signs the 39-year-old captain needed a day off.
“I know I have to watch, I understand that,’’ Girardi said. “Part of it is we are facing a lefty and that had something to do with it. I will pay attention and he does have Monday off.’’
According to Girardi, Solarte said his right shoulder was sore Saturday and Girardi liked the way Kelly Johnson, a left-handed hitter, swung the bat against Angels starter, lefty Hector Santiago.
“He had some good at-bats against their pitcher and I thought I would go with him,’’ Girardi said.
Johnson, who was 2-for-4 with a triple and a RBI against Santiago, went hitless in two at-bats against him and was 0-for-3 in the game.
In his previous outing, Masahiro Tanaka proved he could pitch well at Fenway Park when he beat the Red Sox. His next challenge comes Sunday night in The Bronx against the Angels and Albert Pujols and Mike Trout.
And while Tanaka said he has watched plenty of video of the two sluggers, he understands that until he actually faces them, he won’t be able to judge just how good they are.
“I did know they were good batters,” Tanaka said before the Yankees beat the Angels, 4-3, on Saturday. “But basically for all the teams… I’ve been playing in Japan for the past seven years, so to be honest with you, I’m not familiar with any of the batters here.”It will be Tanaka’s fifth major league start and he is 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA, along with 35 strikeouts.
Brett Gardner had a scare in the bottom of the eighth when he was hit on the top of his left foot, unable to evade a 94 mph fastball from Ernesto Frieri.
Gardner stayed in the game and afterwards said X-rays “looked good.”
“Hopefully it feels all right [Sunday],” Gardner said.
When asked if he’d ever been hit in that spot before, Gardner said, “I have, but not like that. It hit me pretty good.”
Girardi wasn’t happy that two fans prevented Mark Teixeira from catching Pujols’ foul ball in the ninth but understood their intentions.
“It’s not what you want but I understand it. People want baseballs,’’ Girardi said. “It’s part of the game but not what you want to see at your home park. You have to fight through it.’’
After Bruce Billings threw four innings of relief Friday night the Yankees needed a fresh bullpen arm Saturday and elevated right-hander Chris Leroux from SWB and added him to the 25-man roster.
To make room for Leroux the Yankees optioned Shane Greene, who made his major league debut Thursday night in Boston, to SWB.
If the Yankees got into a bullpen bind, Girardi said he had Phelps available Saturday but preferred to look elsewhere. Girardi didn’t need the right-hander.
“My inkling is to stay away, use the other guys in the bullpen but we will see what happens,’’ Girardi said.
When Pineda and Jesus Montero were swapped for each other prior to the 2012 season it was hailed as a blockbuster because Pineda was an All-Star with the Mariners in his rookie season and Montero was considered among the best hitting prospects in baseball.
Also in the deal were Jose Campos and Hector Noesi, right-handers scouts said had high ceilings.
Well, the trade couldn’t have worked any worse for each club. Montero failed miserably in the big leagues and served a 50-game suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesis mess and was banished to the minors. Pineda missed two years due to shoulder surgery and after a strong start to this season is serving a 10-game suspension for foolishly applying pine tar to his neck.
The Mariners gave up on Noesi last year and Campos underwent Tommy John surgery Friday.