BOSTON — Playing this series against the Red Sox was not a possibility for Derek Jeter, so the Yankees opted to place their captain on the disabled list yesterday.
And there is plenty of uncertainty whether Jeter will be able to return from the DL when he’s eligible a week from today.
Jeter’s strained right quadriceps has resulted in his second DL stint this season as, according to Brian Cashman, the All-Star break didn’t supply enough time for Jeter to improve.
“I think the MRI [on Thursday] showed some minimal healing,” the Yankees general manager said, “but he’s not ready to jump off that training table and actually play in this series.”
“I get it,” Jeter said of being back on the DL. “You’re going to come here, you don’t want the team playing short, a guy short, so we have an extra couple days.”
The question now is when Jeter can return, and though he not surprisingly believes it’s possible to come back next Saturday — “Why not?” he said — Cashman was far less certain. The GM said Jeter is pain-free when walking, but has not run at all. Cashman said a player rehabs a strained quad by riding the exercise bike, lightly jogging and running before finally moving to baseball activities. Jeter rode the bike yesterday, but that’s all he has done.
“I can’t tell you [whether he’ll be ready on Saturday],” Cashman said. “I wish I could say yes. I think he’d say yes. But I can’t say yes.”
Cashman added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not ready by Saturday of next week, and I think he’ll be surprised if he isn’t ready by Saturday next week. We’ll see. It’s a Grade 1 [strain] and this stuff takes time and there’s a progression to it.”
Neither Cashman nor manager Joe Girardi was certain whether Jeter would require another rehab assignment.
Either way, the Yankees embarked on a critical second-half opening stretch last night — they face the Red Sox, Rangers and Rays over the first 10 days — without Jeter. Eduardo Nunez was at short last night, and Alberto Gonzalez and Luis Cruz can also play there.
Last weekend Girardi broached the idea of Jeter not going full throttle when he returns, and Jeter seemed open to that yesterday. He said he would run hard “but I think you can play under control.”
Jeter also dismissed the idea he returned before he was ready.
“I don’t think that’s the case,” he said. “I was ready to come back. I came back. I was running fine and this happened.”
— Additional reporting by George A. King III