ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — According to Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter was anxious to find out the root of why his surgically repaired left ankle was irritated last week.
Last Thursday, a second fracture, smaller than the first, was found in Jeter’s ankle and he was shut down from baseball activity. When he is ready to come off the disabled list is only a guess. Since Granderson, who is out with a fractured right forearm, was working out at the minor league complex in Tampa, he talked to Jeter.
“I don’t think he tried to do too much. It was lingering because when I talked to him it was, ‘Man, there is something irritating me, what is it?’ ’’ Granderson said prior to last night’s 5-1 loss to the Rays. “They looked at a bunch of different things and they finally found it.’’
As for Granderson, he doesn’t have a date when he will come off the DL. After suffering the injury on the second pitch of his first spring training at-bat, the center fielder estimates he will require 50 to 70 at-bats in order to be ready to handle big-league pitching. He can get several of them in the extended spring training program but eventually he will need to play in minor league games.
Yesterday was the first day Granderson was cleared to participate in hitting drills off a tee and do flip drills.
“That is hard to say,’’ Granderson said when asked if he would be ready to play the first week in May. “It’s going to be somewhere in May, but I don’t know exactly when. The X-rays have all been good.’’
As for Jeter, Granderson said the shortstop was relieved to know what was causing the irritation.
“The big thing for him was finally knowing what it was,’’ Granderson said. “I think he was definitely frustrated, ‘OK, why is there something going on.’ There was a cause for that. As interesting as it sounds, he was finally relieved to know what it is. Mentally, it’s discouraging to understand what it is. Now we know. Whatever it was, he wanted to know. I don’t necessarily say he was shocked.’’
* Fifty minutes before the first pitch of last night’s game at Tropicana Field, Kevin Youkilis was scratched due to tightness in the lower back.
Youkilis departed Saturday’s game in Toronto in the sixth inning with the same problem and sat out Sunday’s game at Rogers Centre. Last night, he went through batting practice and was replaced at first base by Lyle Overbay when manager Joe Girardi saw Youkilis grimace.
“It might be a couple of more days,’’Girardi said. “He felt good and went through BP and it tightened up on him. We thought it was best he didn’t play.’’
Replacing Overbay for Youkilis meant the Yankees used four left-handed hitters against lefty Matt Moore. And it’s likely lefty David Price will face four lefties in the Yankees’ lineup tonight.
One of those lefty swingers was Brennan Boesch, who played right field instead of Ichiro Suzuki. Girardi said the move had more to do with getting Boesch playing time than Ichiro’s .200 average.
“Just getting him out there,’’ Girardi said of Boesch, who appeared in his 11th game and went 0-for-3. “And I wanted to get Ichy off the turf. I might get Gardy [Brett Gardner] a day off and maybe Vernon [Wells], too.’’
* When Eduardo Nunez took over for Jeter at short, the biggest concern was his defense. Yet, Nunez went 0-for-2 last night and is batting .167 (7-for-42)and in a 1-for-19 slide.
“I have [40] at-bats. One good game and I could be hitting .300,’’ he said before last night’s loss. “It’s too early to think about numbers.’’
* Girardi spent yesterday morning at the Yankees’ minor league complex in Tampa, where he saw Michael Pineda throw a simulated game and lefty reliever Clay Rapada work off a mound.
“He threw all his pitches, fastball, slider and change-up. I was happy with what I saw, but he is a long way away,’’ Girardi said of the right-handed Pineda, who missed all of last season due to shoulder surgery and isn’t expected back until July.
Rapada developed bursitis in the left shoulder during spring training, was designated for assignment on March 31, released on April 3 and signed to a minor league contract. Since Boone Logan is Girardi’s lone lefty in the pen, there is a chance Rapada could make it back to the big leagues.
“As I have said before, he was very effective [last year],’’ Girardi said of Rapada, who appeared in 70 games and went 3-0 with a 2.82 ERA.