Who does Joe Girardi think he’s kidding?

By Jun 7, 2011, 7:01 PM EDT
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Hours after listing Derek Jeter as his designated hitter for Tuesday’s game against the Red Sox, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he won’t deviate from the plan in order to help his superstar reach 3,000 hits as home.

But… that’s like… right after he listed Jeter as a DH…

The Yankees play their next 10 games at home and Jeter is 14 hits away from 3,000, so he could well get there if he heats up just a little bit.  However, he’s likely going to have to be put on pace to play in all 10 of them, and that’s exactly what Girardi is thinking with the decision to let him DH tonight.

It is Jeter’s fifth start at DH this season.  He went 4-for-19 with one RBI and no runs scored in the first four.  Overall, he’s batting .260/.327/.325 while getting 100 percent of his at-bats from the first or second spot in the order.  That’s certainly not something that’s going to change until after he reaches 3,000.

“You would love for him to do it here,” Girardi said. “We have 10 games on this homestand — 14 hits he needs. I would love for him to do it here, but you can’t physically wear him down or risk hurting him to do that. We are going to have to be smart about how we do this and we are going to probably play it the way we have all year long.”

Which basically means letting Jeter have his way and hoping that it doesn’t hurt the team in the process.

Dodgers place pitcher Noah Syndergaard on injured list with no timetable for return

Associated PressJun 8, 2023, 9:19 PM EDT
dodgers syndergaard
Katie Stratman/USA TODAY Sports
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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”