Yankees: Didi Gregorius On the Comeback Trail

Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius will begin a rehab assignment this Friday at High-A Tampa. He’s expected to rejoin the club on May 1.

Following an injury sustained while playing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic, blossoming young superstar Didi Gregorius has yet to play a single inning this season for the New York Yankees (Spring Training doesn’t count).

Up until Tuesday night, Gregorius’ replacements had done an admirable job filling in for him. But that was before a player, who is only on the 25-man roster for his defensive ability, came up short.

Following Pete Kozma‘s inability to turn a routine double play in the 7th inning of last night’s contest against the White Sox, which led to an Avisail Garcia three-run homer, it became utterly apparent that the Yankees need their everyday shortstop back sooner rather than later.

The Yankees’ main backup infielder, Ronald Torreyes, was shifted to third base because, for some inexplicable reason, manager Joe Girardi sat the hottest hitter on his club, Chase Headley. Way to ruin a good thing, Joe!

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Maybe (definitely) Torreyes turns that double play and the Yankees escape the 7th, still down only one. Though it’s difficult to speculate whether or not the bats would have woken up enough to score more than the lone run in the 9th, I’d like to think the way Luis Severino was throwing the ball (8 IP, 0 BB, 10 K) would and should have been enough for his teammates to muster something against a mediocre Miguel Gonzalez.

For what it’s worth, the error made by Kozma deflated the Yankees and their fans to the point of no return. It’s not an excuse — just an observation.

Barring any setbacks, the plan is to have Gregorius play seven or eight games in Tampa in a ten-day span before heading to the Bronx, to rejoin his mates on May Day, against the last-place Blue Jays.

Before the Yankees’ 4-1 loss to the Pale Hose, Girardi spoke to the Daily News about Gregorius’ impending return.

“You’re not going to run him out there six days in a row, and you’ll give him a day,” Girardi said. “So it kind of adds up.”“You can think about Didi because realistically he should be here quicker than Gary will be here. He’s ahead of him at this point,” Girardi said. “You do start to think about it, but you still have 10 days or so to go probably before you get a Didi back, so you don’t want to look too far ahead.”

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Indeed, the club has fared extremely well without the likes of Gregorius and Sanchez. But after watching the Yanks drop a most winnable game — the fans are licking their chops to welcome back No. 18.