Sooner or later the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter is going to get his 3000th career hit. But at the moment it’s going to be later, at least 15 days later as Jeter was placed on the disabled list (DL) by the club on June 14th due to a right calf strain.
The Yankees captain hoped to stay on the active roster, but team doctor Christopher Ahmad ultimately decided the 37-year-old should sit out for a couple of weeks to recover. Jeter has 2,994 hits in his illustrious career with his last one, a single, coming June 13th against Cleveland. He then left the game in the fifth inning after complaining of a sore calf.
Jeter said it’s frustrating to be placed on the DL, especially when he’s getting close to a career milestone, but said he’d still be frustrated even if he wasn’t gunning for his historical hit. He said he just wants to play ball and the 3,000 hits don’t really come into the equation at this point. His spot on the roster will be taken by Ramiro Pena, an infielder from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre of Triple A ball. However, Eduardo Nunez will fill in for Jeter on the diamond by taking over at shortstop.
Dr. Ahmad said Jeter might have avoided the DL if he could have been ready to play in about seven days, but said he needed to rest for at least 10 days before attempting to play again. Jeter is able to walk without much pain, but as soon as he explodes out of the batter’s box there’s going to be an enormous strain placed on his calf, which could make the injury worse.
Alex Rodriguez missed three games with a similar injury last season and then aggravated it by playing, forcing him to be placed on the DL. The Yankees don’t want to make the same mistake with Jeter. Club manager Joe Girardi said if Jeter reinjures the calf he’ll be out of action for a few weeks at least.
Being placed on the DL is pretty uncommon for Jeter as he hasn’t been placed on it since 2003 after suffering a dislocated left shoulder on the season’s opening day. But an MRI on June 13th revealed that he has a Grade 1 strain in his right calf. Jeter said he tried to stretch it out after feeling a slight strain during the game against Cleveland, but he couldn’t get rid of it. He added that he thought it was just some type of normal soreness in his leg.
Other than 2003, Jeter has played in at least 148 games every season since 1996. He’s scheduled to come off the Dl on June 29th while the Yankees will be in the middle of a three-game series at home against the Milwaukee Brewers. They then take on cross-town rivals the New York Mets for three games between July 1st and 3rd.
