New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter plays his first rehab game – MLB News
Derek Jeter on Saturday, July 2, showed the infallible signs of his rapid recovery by playing a rehab game at Trenton. The New York Yankees’ legendary player demonstrated his brilliance by knocking a single to left in his first at-bat lately.
This was his first at-bat in the two-games scheduled to be played against the Thunder. Once he hit the ball, he advanced to third base and looked in a good trim after remaining in the disabled list for over three weeks now.
“It feels good. I was nervous coming in, you know, I haven’t played in three weeks,” Jeter said. “It feels good to get going because you can’t duplicate anything. ... You can try and do it on the field and BP but until you get into a game and actually have
to move, you won’t know until then.”
The Yankees who are anxiously awaiting Jeter’s return saw the game with keen interest, attaching great hopes to the star player’s supposedly good performance so that he could soon be put into the line-up.
For Jeter, on the other hand, coming to Trenton was a refreshing experience which sparked off a kind of nostalgia as well, something that he later referred to once asked about the game and place.
“It was nice. You know, I was here for five days back in ‘03 and I enjoyed myself,” Jeter said. “A lot of Yankee fans here, the fans are great, the atmosphere is fun. I wish I wasn’t here if that makes sense, but this is a good place to come.”
Jeter hit a drive in the bottom of the second inning. However, he was caught by Matt Curry to end the inning, disallowing the Yankees’ star to strike the second hit of the night. In the bottom of the fifth Jeter made a comeback from a 0-2 count and drew
a walk.
For Jeter, these games provide an opportunity to get back into form. Remaining off the game for over three weeks now, Jeter’s Saturday venture appears to have given some good news at home.
Derek, who is now six hits short of becoming the 28th player having struck 3000 hits, is a future Hall of Famer as well. He also showed appreciable work in the field as in the second inning of the game while turning a double play with Carbon Joseph.
Jeter is expecting to play all nine innings on Sunday once he makes his way on the ground to face the Thunder for the second time in as many days.
The main reason why Jeter played the game was to see if he was prepared to play in the bigger games. From how he played on Saturday, it seems he is ready and prepared for the major tasks ahead.
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