Derek Jeter on return: 'I'll be ready when I'm ready'

Derek Jeter is eligible to come off the disabled list next Sunday, but — after two other failed attempts to get back in the lineup this season — he made no promises that he will be able to do so as he works to recover from a right calf strain.

"I'm confident I'll be ready when I'm ready," he said before Saturday's 9-3 loss to the Tigers. When pressed, he said again, "I'm confident I'll be ready when I'm ready. 

"All I know is what I'm doing today," he said about his return schedule.  "I have to go ride the bike, but I assume [I will run] in the next couple of days."

Since this will be his third attempt at returning to the lineup this season, after a second fracture to his left ankle and a right quad strain, the frustrated Jeter is still reluctant to set a timetable for another debut.

"It feels good," Jeter said after playing catch at Yankee Stadium before the team took the field. "I assume [I’ll] run in a couple of days."

As for now, he has no plans to return to the team’s minor league complex in Tampa, and intends to remain with the Yankees at least through this homestand, which ends Thursday before the team heads to Boston. Jeter would be eligible to come off the disabled list Aug. 18 in Boston, although he has a long way to go before he is declared healthy and is being cautious about rushing back.

 "There's nothing I can't do here that I would do down there [in Tampa]," he said.

Jeter singles, scores in first at-bat in return to Yankees (VIDEO)

The captain is back.

Derek Jeter reached first base with an infield single on his first pitch following a nine-month long layoff from surgery, immediately testing his healed left ankle Thursday afternoon in the first inning of the New York Yankees' series finale against the Kansas City Royals.

Jeter didn't acknowledge the cheering fans as he made his long-awaited return. He turned on a 95 mph fastball from Ervin Santana and sent a three-hopper up the third-base line that fell from Miguel Tejada's throwing hand.

Fans chanted "De-rek Je-ter! De-rek Je-ter!" as the 39-year-old shortstop ran up the line well past first base, then returned to the bag. The ankle got tested more when he raced to third on Robinson Cano's single up the middle and came home without a throw on Vernon Well's sacrifice fly to right.

Jeter was the designated hitter and batted second in his first big league game since he broke his left ankle during the AL championship series opener Oct. 13. He said after the initial injury he would return by opening day, then fractured the ankle again in April during his rehabilitation and missed the first 91 games of the season. He played four rehab-games for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders until Wednesday.

Late Wednesday night, general manager Brian Cashman called Jeter in Scranton and said come back home to New York.

After Brett Gardner and Travis Hafner each suffered minor contusions during Wednesday's 8-1 win over the Royals and are considered day to day, the short-handed bench prompted Cashman to summon Jeter from the Minors.

"It was an obvious situation where, 'Hey, he could DH today in Scranton or he could DH today in New York,'" Cashman said. "We'd might as well bring him in and DH him in New York."

Jeter was not introduced at Yankee Stadium by Bob Sheppard's recording in his first at-bat but the old familiar intro was used when Jeter walked up to the plate in the second-inning before he grounded out.

Welcome back.

Jeter told bone is '100% healed,' will talk to Girardi about playing

Derek Jeter has worked hard at rehabbing his surgically repaired left ankle and, after he was told by his doctor that it was "100% healed," the New York Yankees shortstop believes it's time to give it a test run — literally.

Jeter indicated that he doesn't have to run the bases at full speed before appearing in a game but, after getting clearance from his surgeon Dr. Robert Anderson on Thursday, the Captain plans to talk with manager Joe Girardi about making his 2013 spring debut on the field.

"Last time I was there it wasn’t completely healed; now it is," Jeter said, referring to an appointment a week or two before spring training. "It’s always reassuring when someone says something that’s broke is not broke anymore. Now it’s just getting through the normal aches and pains that come around it. As long as you know the break has healed, then the aches and pains, that goes away on its own."

Jeter, who spoke with reporters after facing Andy Pettitte in a simulated game Friday at Steinbrenner Field, didn't elaborate on his spring return and said he would talk with Girardi first about playing Saturday.

"Could be tomorrow, it could be the next day," he said of testing his legs. "But I don't think I have to run them full speed before I play. If you go back to spring trainings in the past, I don't think anyone is running the bases at full speed before the first game. As long as I can get around, then that's fine."

There was some thought that Jeter might put off his debut until Monday because of Mariano Rivera's anticipated retirement announcement Saturday morning, but Girardi claims that won't be a factor in any decision.

"I don't know if Mo would expect him to do that," Girardi said. "We still have a season to get ready for."

Jeter downplayed Thursday's trip to Dr. Anderson's Charlotte, N.C. office.

"He said everything's healed, 100% healed," Jeter said. "It was a scheduled visit. It was scheduled before I started playing games. To get the final OK. There's been a process of a few doctors and tests to see how it was coming along. Last time I went there, it wasn't completely healed, but now it is. I figured it would be. I thought it would be. So that's was what I was expecting . . . He gave me clearance, but I don't know if I needed it.'' 

If Jeter does see any game action, expect it to only be from the DH spot for a few games before he takes his regular position at shortstop.

Either way, it'll be nice to see one of the Yankees' walking wounded back on the field in some capacity.

Jeter's return delayed, keeps focused on April 1

It's unlikely that Derek Jeter will be making his spring debut this Sunday against the Blue Jays — the March 10 date which the New York Yankees had circled on their calenders a couple of weeks ago.

The news does not mean that Jeter's ankle isn't healing on schedule or he is in jeopardy of missing the date that means the most to him — April 1.

"That's my job, to be ready  on April 1," the shortstop said of the season opener at Yankee Stadium. 

"I will be there as soon as I can play," said Jeter. "I don't put a date on it.  That [March 10] was a date that was floated out there, but if I can play before I will play before. If it's after, it's after.  When I am able to do it you guys know I will do it."

Jeter is progressing with his rehab but hasn't run the bases at full speed. He is working on increasing the intensity of his base-running exercises.

"I have to run the bases at full speed. That's probably one of the most important things," he said. "All the other little things come with time and those things you can adjust to once the games start."

Cashman, who initially "floated" the March 10 date, isn't worried about the 38-year-old Jeter's return.

"If it happens to be longer, it’s longer. If it’s sooner, so be it, too," said the general manager.  "I’m not worried about Derek Jeter at all. He’ll be ready when it counts. ... He’s the least of our concerns."

The Captain watched yesterday's 8-2 loss against the Dominican Republic WBA team from the Yankee dugout and sounded like he's not even spring-training game ready.

"Do I feel like I could play today?" he asked. "No. If I could play today I would be playing today, but I still have to do a couple of things but I am getting close. I am heading in the right direction."

Dates to Jeter must mean supermodels and actresses.