Results tagged ‘ Derek Jeter ’
Derek Jeter vows to return this season from ankle injury
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter addressed the media today at Yankee Stadium, making his first public comments since the team announced that he had suffered a new fracture in his surgically repaired left ankle. The Yankees have said that Jeter is expected to return after the All-Star break, and while the captain said that he isn’t announcing his timetable to get back in the lineup, he has a date in mind that is probably sooner than that.
Here are some highlights from the first part of Jeter’s press conference. We’ll have complete coverage coming up on MLB.com and Yankees.com.
Difficulty of this process:
“It’s been a difficult process. It’s been a frustrating process. Just when you think you’re close to coming back, then you have a setback. It’s part of the healing process. When you get hurt, it’s supposed to take time. It’s supposed to take time when you break a bone. Unfortunately, it has taken more time than I anticipated.”
Any doubt you will come back this season:
“No, no doubt. When you have doubt, that’s when you’re in trouble. I’ve been told this bone will heal and when it heals I’ll be ready to go. It’s frustrating that I can’t magically make it heal sooner than it’s taking, but I have no doubt I’ll be back.”
Idea of timeline:
“I’m not getting into a timeline. The last timeline I set, I didn’t make. I don’t want to disappoint myself or anyone else. Whenever it heals, I’ll be back, I guess that’s the best way to put it.”
When did this happen?:
“It’s the same bone but it’s in a different spot. I’m not exactly sure when I did it. When we took the CT scans before spring training started, the bone had healed. I’m not one to complain about something being sore, so you just go out there and play, which I did. It just never went away. I wasn’t able to run. I wasn’t able to do things that I wanted to do. I had it checked out again and that’s when they found out that it was fractured again. I would assume it has probably been like that for quite some time, but that’s just an assumption. There’s no way to tell.”
March 19 game at Clearwater?:
“I don’t know. Maybe, yeah, but I’d just be guessing. If I was going to assume I’d say yeah, but once again it’s just an assumption. Unless you took the test at that particular time, it’s impossible to know. I knew something was wrong but if it’s not broken, then I’ll play. I guess it was broken.”
Regret setting the Opening Day timeline?:
“No, I don’t. My job is to be ready for Opening Day. I feel like I didn’t do my job. My job was to be ready; unfortunately I wasn’t. No, I don’t regret it, because I think you have to set goals to try to reach those goals. I’m never one to just sit back and have a lot of patience when it comes to anything being wrong. No, I don’t regret it. I regret that the bone didn’t heal, but not setting a date – no.”
Glad they found something?:
“I know my body. I knew something was wrong. I can’t say I’m glad they found something; I wish they didn’t find something, but all the things that we thought it was, it wasn’t. I knew something was wrong. I can play if something is in pain. You guys know I don’t like talking about injuries. You either play or you don’t. I don’t enjoy this press conference here, but I have to talk about it because I’m not playing. I knew something was wrong because it’s not just tendinitis or stiffness. There’s something wrong that was making it unable for me to play. We found out it was because it was broke.”
Think the problem was caused by impatience?:
“I don’t think so, because when I took the tests, I believe I had two CT scans before I actually got on the field and started doing things. Both of them said the bone had healed. Once the bone has healed you can move forward. Something happened. I don’t know what happened, I wish I could explain it. No one can really give me a definite explanation for it but once it heals I’m going to be right back at it and come back as soon as I can. I guess the best way to put it is, I don’t know what happened. I really don’t know what happened. But I don’t think I pushed it too hard. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t, but I don’t know.”
Updates on Kevin Youkilis, Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter
A few quick updates to share from the Yankees clubhouse as they prepare for tonight’s game against the Rays at Tropicana Field:
- Kevin Youkilis is still having treatment on his sore back and is not expected to play until Thursday at Yankee Stadium. Joe Girardi said they won’t ask Youkilis to come to the bench during tonight’s game so he can keep receiving treatment, but Youkilis’ back is supposedly getting better. He did not appear in the clubhouse this afternoon. The Yankees are again playing Jayson Nix at third base and Lyle Overbay at first base against left-hander David Price.
- Mark Teixeira is still taking only dry swings, and said that his right wrist hasn’t loosened up enough to permit him to move on to batting practice. Teixeira said he feels like the wrist is healed, but acknowledges he won’t make it back for May 1st. Teixeira’s initial time frame of the injury was eight to 10 weeks, so May 1st would’ve been about the earliest possible date, but Teixeira still believes he is on track to play in the big leagues during the month of May.
- Ben Francisco has struggled in his role as the DH against left-handed pitching, but Girardi said that he will stick with him, saying that he believes “Francisco has hit some balls pretty decent.” That said, Girardi acknowledges how much the lineup misses guys like Derek Jeter and Teixeira against lefties.
- Brennan Boesch is likely to be in tomorrow’s lineup as Girardi plans to give Vernon Wells a day off.
- Jeter is expected to rejoin the Yankees on Thursday in New York and will talk to the media at Yankee Stadium. Girardi said that he believes Jeter has been fitted for a walking boot on his left ankle again.
Granderson: Jeter getting in the swing
Curtis Granderson is in New York for a checkup on his right wrist and shagged fly balls today at Yankee Stadium, and he’s also taking part in a charity event at a Brooklyn high school tomorrow morning.
We’ll have those updates on Yankees.com shortly, but I wanted to pass along Granderson’s scouting report on Derek Jeter’s progress since updates have become a bit scarce — even Joe Girardi has stopped asking for Jeter’s daily progress report, saying, “I’m not going to actively seek it out every day. It’s kind of a pain in the rear end.”
That seems to suggest that Jeter isn’t close to getting into any games, and Girardi said he didn’t know what Jeter did today. But Granderson offered a more encouraging take on how the captain has looked down at the club’s Minor League complex in Tampa:
“He’s looking good. Our schedules don’t always mix, but the one day which was a physically difficult day for us, he was taking batting practice that day and the ball was going all over the place. He was driving it well to left field, to right field, to center field, and I got a lot of work that day out there shagging when him and his group were hitting. That’s a good sign. In terms of all his throwing and running and all that good stuff, I don’t see that all the time, but I did see his hitting that day and it all looked really good.”
Derek Jeter says it will be “disappointing” to start year on DL
Derek Jeter said today that he has accepted the reality that he will not be on the Yankees’ Opening Day roster. Jeter will instead continue his rehab in Florida when the team goes north.
“Pretty much, that looks like what’s going to happen,” Jeter said. “I told you guys all along, my goal was to be ready on Opening Day and I didn’t reach it. It’s disappointing.”
Jeter is expected to only receive treatment today and will not be on the field. He said that he does not want to circle dates on the calendar, but general manager Brian Cashman has said that the new goal for Jeter is April 6 — the first date he will be eligible to be activated.
“As hard as it is sometimes, you have to try to look at the big picture,” Jeter said. “My goal was to be ready Opening Day, but the goal also is to be ready for the season. I pushed it to try to get to Opening Day and it didn’t work out, but I still have to be ready for the majority of the season.”
Derek Jeter: “I will not address how anything feels anymore”
Derek Jeter will get back into the batter’s box today, testing his surgically repaired left ankle as the designated hitter in a Minor League game at the Yankees’ Himes Avenue complex.
The Yankees captain took batting practice and fielded ground balls with infield coach Mick Kelleher this morning at George M. Steinbrenner Field, and said that he does not know how many at-bats he is scheduled to get. Jeter did say that he has grown weary of answering questions about his health.
“I will not address how anything feels anymore,” Jeter said. “It’s good. It’s not broken. Some things, you’ve got to work through, like I told you. It’s really pointless to sit here and say each and every day, ‘How’s it feel? Does it feel better?’
“It’s pointless. Some days are good, some days are bad, but you’ve got to work through it. That’s what I’m going to do.”
Jeter’s game action is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. this afternoon.
Jorge Posada: Mariano Rivera “is a freak of nature”
Jorge Posada hasn’t yet arrived in camp for his duties as one of the Yankees’ guest instructors, but we must be getting close, because the five-time World Series champion is starting to talk a little ball.
Posada was a guest on Sirius/XM MLB Network Radio this morning with hosts Jim Memelo and Jeff Nelson. He shared his thoughts on several topics around the 2013 Yankees, including Posada’s prediction that Mariano Rivera will be able to return to the same dominant level for this team.
On Mariano Rivera: “Mariano is going to be 100 percent. Mariano is a freak of nature. One of those things about Mariano, he has great control, that cutter will not go away. I expect Mariano to be the old Mariano.”
On Derek Jeter: “He said it perfectly the other day, he’s going to be sore all over because he hasn’t been able to train like he wanted to, but he’s going to push himself to be ready for Opening Day. I know him, he’s going to probably be doing two-a-days and working really hard off the field to get back to 100 percent when it comes to Opening Day.”
On the Yankees’ catching competition: ”Obviously whoever has the best spring is going to start. That probably changes throughout the year. We’ve got three young catchers and we’re going to hopefully look forward to seeing them compete. This is what baseball is all about. You don’t get the job, you earn the job. I think it’s going to be good.”
On scouting reports for Cervelli and Romine: “Cervelli, very energetic, very athletic, very quick behind the plate. He has a good arm. He’s a lot more mature now so I think it’s perfect timing for him right now. Romine, obviously a little younger, smart kid behind the plate. We like him very much but they don’t want to rush him, so we’ll see. He’s got a shot too. We’ll see what happens in the spring.”
On Kevin Youkilis: “It’s going to be fun. I think it’s going to be great. The guy plays hard, that’s another guy that wants to prove himself. He had a tough year last year and I bet he worked really hard during the offseason to be a Yankee and be a part of this team.”
Yankees ready for first full-squad workout
It felt like Penn Station at rush hour in the clubhouse at George M. Steinbrenner Field this morning, as the group of 84 83 players in camp collided with the much-larger-than-usual media group assigned to chronicle the first full squad workout for the 2013 Yankees.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi cleared the room at 9:40 a.m. to take the stage for his introductory speech to the players, and Girardi said that he would probably stick to a basic script as he addressed the roster.
“The message is, let’s get better,” Girardi said. “I mean, that’s the bottom line. Let’s get prepared and let’s get better. That’s what we’re here for.”
With all of the pitchers and position players in camp, and exhibition games quickly approaching, the facility will be busy today. Hiroki Kuroda threw a bullpen this morning, and the main event will be the eight hitting groups will be rotating through the batting cage on the main field. I’m most interested to watch infield Group 1, comprised of Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Travis Hafner and Eduardo Nunez.
Jeter has been hitting in the batting cages across the street at the Minor League complex for a while, but he hasn’t taken many – if any – swings on the field this spring. Today also might be Jeter’s first attempt to run on grass or dirt, advancing from the treadmill, so that bears watching, as does any defensive work he might do.
Later in the day, Robinson Cano and Ichiro Suzuki will also take turns handling the media in the tent outside the stadium, so we should have more updates to share then.
Derek Jeter expects to be ready for Opening Day
Yankees captain Derek Jeter met the media outside George M. Steinbrenner Field on Sunday and that he plans to be playing shortstop when the team opens the season on April 1 against the Red Sox in New York.
Jeter said that his surgically repaired left ankle will keep him out of the Yankees’ early exhibition games, but doesn’t believe that he will need all of Spring Training to get into baseball shape. He also revealed that his ankle now contains plates and screws, which he’ll keep, and said that he’s ready to move forward with his running program.
“I broke my ankle in October; it’s been quite some time,” Jeter said. “I’m right where I’m supposed to be. Up until this point, the ankle has healed perfectly, now it’s just a matter of getting everything else in shape.
“You’ve got to wait for the bone to heal before you can do other activities that are even before baseball activities. Now it’s just progressing up until that point. I’m going to have to push myself, but Opening Day has been the goal all along.”
Jeter said that he spent five to six weeks on the couch after shattering his ankle and even had to use a scooter to get around for part of the winter. He acknowledged that he probably shouldn’t have been playing on the ankle, which had a bone bruise that got worse and worse. Jeter said that he expects to get back to being the same player again, even as he heads into a season that will see him turn 39 in June.
“As much as I’d like to be getting younger, I’m not,” Jeter said. “Everybody’s getting older. There’s always going to be questions; there always has been questions. I don’t mind that. But it’s not like I go out saying, ‘I’ve got to prove something.’ I just want to continue to improve. That’s just the approach I’ve always taken.”
Spring is here: Yankees pitchers and catchers report
George M. Steinbrenner Field is open for business, and while we’re still waiting to hear the first official crack of the bat, these words should be enough to warm your afternoon wherever you are — Yankees pitchers and catchers reported to Tampa today.
CC Sabathia meets the media in the Yankees dugout on Tuesday.
The players went through the usual gauntlet of physical tests and checked out their locker assignments – with 84 names on the invited list, the Yankees have had to build a few new ones in the clubhouse – before heading out for the day. The real work begins tomorrow, with the first official workout for pitchers and catchers.
“Everybody talked about the guys that we didn’t sign, but talk about the guys we have coming back,” Yankees ace CC Sabathia said. “Hiro (Hiroki Kuroda) coming back, Andy (Pettitte) coming back, we’ll get Mo (Mariano Rivera) back for a full year. I think we already had the pieces here in place to compete and try to win a championship. We’ll just go with what we’ve got.”
Yankees manager Joe Girardi held his first press conference of the spring, and the big news was again about Alex Rodriguez, as Girardi revealed that A-Rod will not be reporting to camp with the Yankees’ position players.
Instead, Rodriguez will be continuing his rehab in New York, which should limit some of the potential distractions that were expected to go along with MLB’s investigation of the Biogenesis case.
Girardi said that he believes the Yankees “could win 95 games and get to the World Series,” and said that “if other clubs want to think we’re vulnerable, that’s OK, but I love the character in that room and the way they find ways to win games.”
Want video? You got it.
Here are some of the other quick hits from Girardi’s session with the press:
- Girardi is not concerned about the health of Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera. He is, however, curious how the Yankees will find their designated hitter against right-handed pitching. Eduardo Nunez, Matt Diaz and Juan Rivera appear to be the early options.
- Girardi called the spring “a test” for Francisco Cervelli, who must block out the distraction of the Biogenesis investigation while also competing for the Opening Day catcher job.
- Austin Romine should be able to help the Yankees at some point during the season, Girardi said, but he doesn’t know exactly when. Romine said that he intends to make the roster out of Spring Training, but the Yankees have him ticketed for Triple-A right now.
- Girardi said Cervelli, Stewart and Romine should be able to be as good as Russell Martin was defensively.
- Michael Pineda is throwing in camp, but Girardi said he doesn’t expect to see him in a game this spring. The Yankees have been saying that Pineda’s best case scenario is to pitch in the big leagues by May or June.
- Girardi said he’s not worried about his lame duck status as the Yankees’ manager, saying that he’s only concerned with the next 162 games and getting to the World Series. The Yankees will likely hold off until after the season to open contract talks with Girardi.
Jeter runs for first time since surgery
Derek Jeter ran on a treadmill today for the first time since his ankle surgery and said that it felt “great.”
“I’m progressing, like I told you,” Jeter said. “I’m right where I need to be. I’ve gotten the OK to do everything.”
Jeter also took about 75 to 80 ground balls at the Yankees’ Minor League complex in Tampa, Fla., with limited lateral movement.
Speaking to reporters from his car as he left camp, Jeter said that he’s close to where he normally would be in preparing for a season, and that being cleared to run was the final hurdle.
“I feel fine,” he said. “I was able to do everything else, I just had to be careful with that (ankle). Now I’ve got the green light with that.”
Bryan Hoch
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