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Yankees lineup vs. Royals: Jeter batting second at DH, Ishikawa DFA'd, A-Rod update

A long and majestic era has ended so that another one can resume.

By Andrew Mearns
Al Bello

The Yankees go for the four-game split this afternoon against the Kansas City Royals. They'll do so with a somewhat-known shortstop off the 60-day DL, back in the lineup as the designated hitter:

YES Network's Jack Curry reported that Jeter's activation was accelerated by the leg contusions sustained by Brett Gardner and Travis Hafner last night. Otherwise, he would have been in Scranton again tonight. Playing as the DH should not be too taxing on the Captain in his return. It's also possible that Jeter will return to the field as shortstop for tomorrow night's game against the Twins, as was originally rumored yesterday. They'll need the potential extra offense with offensive black hole Austin Romine (among others) in the lineup since it's a day game after a night game.

To make room for Jeter on both the 40-man and the 25-man roster, the Yankees brought the Travis Ishikawa era to a close after just four days and two pitiful at-bats, which both ended in strikeouts. Obviously it was a supremely small sample size, but Ishikawa did not look good. Would he have been better with more time? Maybe, but I don't see how he would have been any better than Lyle Overbay, who is almost certainly a superior defensive first baseman. Having two lefthanded first basemen was redundant anyway.

I suppose since he's been taking some grounders there recently, Vernon Wells will be the backup first baseman in case Overbay breaks in today's game. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, though it might be a good idea to start Wells at first base sometime just to see if he can pass as a backup for Overbay, who has been playing basically every day this year outside of Mark Teixeira's brief return.

In Alex Rodriguez news, GM Brian Cashman stated that he will take the full 20 days for his rehab. It's somewhat strange that Jeter returned so quickly and they are taking their time with A-Rod, but a second hip surgery is probably more difficult to rehab from than Jeter's ankle injuries. They might as well play it safe.

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