Ken Davidoff

Ken Davidoff

MLB

The thrill and ‘pressure’ of being Derek Jeter’s backup

TAMPA — “It’s a slippery thing,” Brendan Ryan said Monday morning at Steinbrenner Field, and he wasn’t referring to the rain that ultimately canceled the Yankees’ Grapefruit League game down in Bradenton.

No, Ryan and I were discussing his role this season: Backup for Derek Jeter — and possible in-game defensive replacement — during the captain’s farewell/comeback campaign. It could get hairy. It could be boring. No matter where it lands, the Yankees’ selection of an accomplished veteran for this spot probably will turn out to be a good call.

“I relate to the fans a lot. I still pinch myself,” said Ryan, who turns 32 on March 26. “Here I am: I’m insurance to THE Derek Jeter. That’s pretty special. It’s something I’ll tell my kids about. Whether there’s a tremendous amount of glory or not, I think the experience will be super, super special. Something I’ll never forget.”

Jeter, who took Monday off along with the other veterans who made the Yankees’ trip to Panama, has enjoyed a healthy spring, and that’s paramount after playing in just 17 games last year due to the fractured left ankle he suffered in October 2012. What to make of his .133/.212/.167 slash line in 33 plate appearances? Eh. Not much, although you know many folks would be throwing a party right now if those numbers read more like .300/.350/.450.

What’s indisputable is Jeter turns 40 in June, is coming off the most serious injury of his career and displayed limited defensive range prior to that injury. Hence the Yankees re-signed Ryan — whom they acquired from Seattle last September — to a two-year, $5 million contract over the offseason.

“He was signed to be available to come off the bench,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said of Ryan on Monday. Added Cashman: “We wanted to give Joe [manager Girardi] some choices.”

Will Girardi choose to insert Ryan as a defensive replacement for Jeter late in games the Yankees are leading? “We haven’t talked about it,” Cashman said. The common-sense conjecture is Girardi, understanding Jeter’s profound pride, will begin the season playing Jeter full games and start the defensive superior and offensively inferior Ryan a couple of times per week — and resort to the defensive-replacement idea only by necessity. Ryan also can play second base and third base.

Ryan recalled the came in as a ninth-inning defensive replacement (for Munenori Kawasaki) to help preserve a Mariners combined no-hitter against the Dodgers on June 8, 2012. He understands what it would mean to relieve Jeter late in a game the Yankees are leading.

“It’s not the most enviable position, but it’s nothing I’ll complain about,” said Ryan, who took batting practice Monday and should return to game action this week after being sidelined with a back injury. “There’s definitely a little bit more pressure put in there, but that makes it more fun, too. At the same time, I don’t imagine Jete would be too excited about those situations. Maybe if it’s a need-be.

“It’s a slippery thing. I don’t want to say too much. I have and still do look up to Jete big time. He was basically my favorite player growing up in grade school and high school and stuff. I wanted to look the way he looked taking groundballs and stuff. It’s cool to see how he carries himself and how he’ll treat [uniform] number 104 the same way he treats [Mark] Teixeira. He’s the ultimate example-setter, and I’m going to try to take it all in this year. It’ll be fun to be part of his last hurrah. Hopefully we send him off on a good note.”

The Los Angeles native came up through the Cardinals’ system and served as the starting shortstop for the St. Louis club that won the 2009 National League Central title. Then he went to the Mariners in a December 2010 trade, and he couldn’t hit enough to keep a starting job despite his excellent defense; of active players who have spent at least half their time at shortstop, he ranks second in defensive WAR (as per Baseball-Reference.com) with 14.4. Only the Pirates’ Clint Barmes stands higher, at 16.

So he has been through some baseball battles and appears capable of handling what’s coming. And very happy to be part of it.

“Here, I feel like I’m finally a part of my own peer group. Whether the salaries are the same or not, there’s a lot of us that are the same age,” Ryan said. “We’ve been playing against each other a lot. We’ve been picking each other’s brains on the organization they’ve played with and some of the guys they’ve played with and all of that.”

This whole Yankees 2014 campaign, expensive and out for redemption, is a high-wire act. Ryan doesn’t mind being a safety net.