Ankle Injury has Derek Jeter Playing in the Minor Leagues

Saturday afternoon the New York Yankees played a major league game in Lakeland against the Tigers without Derek Jeter. He remained in Tampa as the designated hitter in a minor league game. Jeter was unwilling to comment on how his surgically repaired left ankle was feeling after drills. "I will not address how anything feels anymore," he said. He did however say that he was playing through the pain of a broken ankle he injured during Game 1 of the 2012 American League Championship Series last season. The pain is now bearable. "Like I told you, it's not broke," Jeter said. "Some things you got to work through. So it's really pointless to sit here each and every day and ask me, 'How does it feel?' Some days are good, some days are bad and you got to work through it." Jeter is still experiencing some inflammation in the ankle and has continued to receive treatments to improve his performance. Manager Joe Girardi says that this injury will continue to impact his playtime this season. "There's a lot of things we'll have to evaluate," Girardi said. "Can he possibly swing it or not? How does he do? Can he play back-to-back? What happens? If he plays today, does he need a complete day off? How is he moving? I think we have to protect ourselves, a little bit, because you don't want to get into a tough spot with your roster.”