Yankees News: A-Rod to get brace off, Pettitte process is slow and Jeter climbs hit list

The New York Yankees are starting to put together a nice run, winning six of their last seven games, while maintaining a six-game lead in the American League East. Despite the recent success, eyes are beginning to focus on September with two key players working toward a return for the stretch run.

Alex Rodriguez will get his brace removed from his left hand today after x-rays showed enough improvement. He will now begin strengthening exercises according to Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi during his press conference last night. The timetable for his return remains early September. Rodriguez has been throwing a football in order to keep his throwing arm strong while he waited for the left wrist to heal.

Pettitte mending but cautious approach ahead

Andy Pettitte‘s recovery from a broken left ankle is proceeding at a slower pace. The main reason for this is that he has already had one setback so the Yankees are being overly cautious with the 40-year-old lefty. According to Steven Miller of MLB.com, Pettitte had this to say about his recovery.

"“I know that now if I have another setback, we’ve got serious problems and my season’s probably over,” Pettitte said. “Now we’re probably going to be overcautious about what we can do to make sure I’m back.”"

When the team was in Seattle, Pettitte pushed his rehab too hard and potentially cost himself about 10 days in the process. The Yankees need Pettitte in October and hold enough of a lead that they do not need to push him at a pace which could cause more harm than good. Pettitte will be able to long toss next and continues to do exercises in the pool and on a bike in an effort to build strength in the ankle.

Jeter continues climb up hits list

Though there are differing records for Nap Lajoie, Derek Jeter passed the one MLB uses in its record books, with his first inning single for hit number 3,243. The Elias Sports Bureau credits Lajoie with 3,252, which seems to be the odd number out of plenty of reputable resources including Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs.com and The Baseball Almanac. Regardless, after getting one more hit last night, Jeter is within 12 hits of surpassing Eddie Murray who had 3,255 hits. Once Jeter passes Murray, there will be no contention on his where he stands on the list. Jeter is experiencing a fantastic season, leading the American League in hits with 156 on the season. He recently became only the second player in MLB history, along with Hank Aaron, to have seventeen consecutive seasons with at least 150 hits.