A-Rod hopes to rejoin Yankees on Monday
Alex Rodriguez says if all goes well he will rejoin the New York Yankees Monday in Texas for a series against the Rangers.
"I will be back on Monday and I'm very excited," Rodriguez told WFAN radio Wednesday. "If I have a good weekend, I'll be there in Texas."
The Yankees third baseman completed a rehab assignment with Double-A Trenton on Tuesday night, going 0-for-3 with a sacrifice fly and an RBI at the plate, and after a day off on Wednesday will play for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday.
Rodriguez underwent hip surgery in January and has not played in a major-league game since last October. He progressed from Class A to Double-A and now to Triple-A as he targets Monday as a return date to the Yankees for the start of a four-game road series against the Rangers.
Though Rodriguez is hitting only .179 (5-for-28) with one home run and seven strikeouts over 10 rehab games, he is not discouraged.
"I feel good. What I'm happy with is I'm getting the barrel of the bat on the ball," he told reporters before Tuesday night's game. "I'm swinging at strikes. I'm getting the ball into the air to the outfield. I'm eliminating the ground balls.
"I never really paid that much attention to rehab statistics until this year. To me, getting the barrel of the bat on the ball is much more important."
After Tuesday's outing, he has played seven innings at third base in four straight games and described that as a "step I needed to take in this."
