TAMPA, Fla. -- The New York Yankees finally have a date for Derek Jeter's return to game action after he suffered a broken ankle in the American League Championship Series in October.
According to general manager Brian Cashman, Jeter should be ready to play by March 10, which would leave him 19 spring training games in which to get ready to play in the Yankees' season opener on April 1 against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
"I don't see why not," Jeter said in the Yankees' clubhouse before Sunday's home spring training opener against the Toronto Blue Jays. "When I first got here, I was a couple of weeks behind what everyone else was doing when I first got here, so on that schedule, yeah, I don't see any reason why not. I don't think anything's set in stone, but it seems like it's attainable.''
Jeter has been hitting and taking grounders since the beginning of spring training but only ran the bases, albeit slowly, for the first time on Saturday, and went through the same agility and baserunning drills Sunday morning.
"It was good,'' he said. "My form was good. It wasn't an all-out sprint, because like I said, I'm a couple of weeks behind. But at least I ran in a straight line.''
Jeter, who will be 39 on June 26, is coming off a season in which he hit .316 and led the major leagues in hits with 216. Cashman said Jeter would begin playing as a DH and eventually return to his former role as the Yankees everyday shortstop.
"Twenty days of Derek Jeter in spring training is still better than whatever the alternative we're going to run out there," Cashman said.