TAMPA, Fla. — Alex Rodriguez lined a single to left field in his return to the New York Yankees’ lineup after an absence of 524 days. He went 1-for-2 with a walk in a 3-1 spring-training loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, another step forward as he tries to resume his drug-scarred career.
[mlbvideo id=”40237983″ width=”640″ height=”360″ /]
A-Rod was greeted by a 10-second mix of boos and cheers from the crowd of 9,673 at Steinbrenner Field. Rodriguez had not played since September 2013, four months before an arbitrator said he must serve a one-year suspension imposed for violations of baseball’s drug agreement and labor contract.
“Once you hit rock bottom, any time you hear a few cheers these days is a pleasant surprise,” he said.
Rodriguez swung at the first four of 10 pitches he saw in three plate appearances. Batting second as New York’s designated hitter, he swung past a pair of 91 mph pitches from Philadelphia’s Kevin Slowey in the first.
“I felt like I was swinging under water,” he said. “I was like, man, it’s been a long time.”
He lined a soft single to left on an 89-mph, 0-2 offering that was over the plate, ran to first, handed his batting gloves to coach Tony Pena and smiled widely.
“It’s probably the first spring training game in a long time that he’s been a little anxious,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
When Rodriguez came up again in the third, he grounded a first-pitch 96-mph fastball from Paul Clemens to shortstop for an inning-ending forceout. He walked on a full count in the sixth against Ethan Martin, loading the bases with no outs and the Yankees trailing 2-0.
“It’s going to take two or three weeks for me to kind of get a gauge where I am,” Rodriguez said.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
