CLEARWATER, Fla. — Besides being former Yankees first basemen, what do Lou Gehrig, Chris Chambliss, Don Mattingly, Tino Martinez and Jason Giambi have in common?
All have a better chance to play first base than Alex Rodriguez this season.
Manager Joe Girardi plans to play Rodriguez at first base, a position he never has played at any level, Sunday against the Astros in Kissimmee, Fla. The manager said the move is being made so that in the case of an emergency during the season, the position isn’t completely foreign to a player who has played shortstop, third base and will be a designated hitter this year.
“Obviously I would probably put Garrett Jones there first,’’ Girardi said of the pecking order after Mark Teixeira.
Girardi said Rodriguez, who will work on the back field Saturday morning, has done extra work at first, and the manager noted that he participated in cutoff drills recently. However, all Rodriguez did in the drills was stand at first base and ask Teixeira questions about positioning. Not once did he handle a throw from the outfield.
Considering how brittle Teixeira has been the past two seasons, when injuries have limited him to 138 total games, the Yankees need protection. But after watching Jose Pirela run into a center-field wall Sunday and suffer a concussion playing a strange position, the possibility of Rodriguez suffering an injury are a lot higher playing first than being the designated hitter.
Along those lines, Rodriguez mildly collided with Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp at home plate in the second inning Friday, when he tried to score from third on Chris Young’s fly to right. Jeff Francoeur’s throw to Rupp was accurate, and Rodriguez slowed up when it was obvious he was going to be out.
Rodriguez held on to Rupp to avoid going to the ground. The players embraced after the out.
“I told him, ‘Thanks for taking it easy on me,’ ’’ said Rodriguez, who went 1-for-2 with a walk and is batting .303 (10-for-33) this spring. Seven of those 10 hits are singles.
“You feel pretty good having two healthy first basemen,’’ said Girardi, who used catchers Brian McCann and Francisco Cervelli, third baseman Chase Headley, and shortstops Brendan Ryan and Kelly Johnson at first last year because Teixeira was limited to 123 games.
Since arriving in camp, Rodriguez has uttered “Whatever Joe wants’’ when asked about playing first base. Friday was more of the same.
“[Playing first base] is to give Joe as many options as he can have,’’ Rodriguez said. “He likes to give guys time off and likes matchups.’’
Rodriguez appears to be moving better the last few days. His time from home plate to first base has gone from a glacial 5.2 seconds to 4.6, which is .3 seconds above the major league average from the right side.
“I think physically he is in a much better spot than when he got here, but that’s true with all our players,’’ Girardi said.
However, the Yankees aren’t looking for 4.3 from home to first. Or Gold Glove defense. They would like him to add muscle from somewhere in the fifth or sixth spot in the order.
“It doesn’t matter, I am here to play baseball,’’ Rodriguez said when asked if it mattered where he hit. “Whatever Joe wants to do I will do.’’
Chances are Girardi won’t ask Rodriguez to play first as long as he has Jones around, which would be a smart move.