Guess who’s back in the mf’ing house with a fat…

…batting average.

On the heels of a 5-for-6 performance, it appears reports of Derek Jeter’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Since coming off the DL on July 4, Jeet is hitting .333/.380/.495 with two homers, 17 RBI, 17 runs scored, four stolen bases in five attempts, eight doubles, and a triple in 108  plate appearances (99 at-bats).

With the effort he has raised his batting average from .256 to .280, which is tied with Brett Gardner. It’s not great but it’s a lot better than what most of us expected.

"I’m having good at-bats, trying to swing at good pitches. I feel as though since I’ve been back I’ve been swinging the bat a lot batter. I just want it to continue."

I know these past 24 games is a very small sample size and his OPS+ is only 90 — the same it was during his putrid 2010 campaign — but seeing him hit like this is very reassuring.

He has driven in 12 runs over his last 11 games and is hitting .395/.449/.581 over that span. And from May 1995 through June 2011 Captain recorded only two five-hit games…he has two in the last 20 games. His 3,027 hits rank 23rd all-time and in all likelihood he’ll pass Craig Biggio (3,060) for 20th all-time by the end of the season.

As usual, Derek Jeter has found a way to shut the haters [myself included] up.