New York Yankees veteran shortstop and team captain Derek Jeter returned to the field on Monday, fielding grounders and swinging the bat for the first time since reinjuring his ankle in mid-April.
Jeter fielded 20 grounders, took 25 swings, and completed a brief long toss session from 180 feet at the Yankees’ minor league facility in Tampa, Florida.
Jeter underwent offseason surgery to repair a fractured ankle that he suffered in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Detroit Tigers last October; however, the Yankees captain suffered a small crack in the repaired ankle when he resumed baseball activities earlier this season.
A post-All Star break return is still the timetable for Jeter, although Yankees GM Brian Cashman has declined to discuss the specifics of his return. Cashman is also surprisingly unsure whether Monday was the first time that Jeter has taken the field since reinjuring the ankle in April.
Jeter is coming off of a season in which he registered over 200 hits for the eighth time in his career. The veteran shortstop is in his 18th season and sits eleventh all-time in career hits with 3,304, 15 hits behind ninth-place Paul Molitor.
