TAMPA — In the nanosecond following his left wrist being bent back while diving for a ground ball, Didi Gregorius believed he had suffered a devastating injury Saturday against the Orioles at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
After a set of X-rays came back negative, Derek Jeter’s replacement was relieved to know there was no structural damage and the sprained wrist was in a brace instead of headed for surgery or fitted with a cast.
“I would say yes, because I rolled a lot over,’’ Gregorius said when asked if he immediately thought it was far more serious. “I rolled with it because I think it would have snapped or something. I was worried but now everything is fine and there is nothing to worry about.’’
Gregorius was scheduled to travel to Kissimmee on Sunday to play against the Astros but that has been scratched. Monday is dark on the Yankees’ schedule and manager Joe Girardi said he didn’t believe Tuesday would be a return date.
“My guess the first day would be Wednesday,’’ Girardi said of Gregorius, who has played very well defensively and has made more contact at the plate under the direction of first-year hitting coach Jeff Pentland.
Gregorius suffered the problem diving for Everth Cabrera’s grounder in the second inning that went for a single.
Girardi and former Yankees trainer Gene Monahan ran to the fallen shortstop, and when Gregorius got to his feet Monahan was working on the left wrist.
Following a few tosses with Mark Teixeira, Gregorius remained in the game. Allowed to hit in the third inning, Gregorius told Girardi he felt something when he checked his swing during a strikeout.
“He didn’t feel it on the full swing, he felt it a little on the check swing,’’ said Girardi, who ended Gregorius’ day.
Asked if he was worried about seeing his shortstop on the ground, Girardi said, “Oh yeah. You usually see it more with outfielders than infielders.’’
After last year — when Teixeira, CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka and Carlos Beltran were hurt — the Yankees understand how injuries can decimate a season.
Tough Gregorius isn’t a superstar, his defensive ability is well above average and anybody the Yankees would have to replace him with wouldn’t be close to Gregorius.
Though Girardi said he doesn’t believe Gregorius’ problem is a serious one, he said he would play Brendan Ryan at short and leave former shortstop Stephen Drew at second.
“I would keep Drew at second and put Brendan at short,’’ Girardi said. “Drew has played [second] a lot more and Brendan has played short most of his career.’’
If Gregorius’ wrist becomes a serious issue, the Yankees would have to add an infielder. Because Rob Refsnyder, who has been very bad in the field at second this spring, and Jose Pirela, who has been sidelined with a concussion, don’t play shortstop, that would seemingly keep them out of play if an infielder is needed.
When Gregorius was acquired from the Diamondbacks on Dec. 5, talent evaluators outside the Yankees’ organization pointed to his inability to hit and especially against lefties.
Though it’s only spring training, the left-handed hitting Gregorius is making more contact with the help of Pentland. A career . 243 hitter in 191 big league games, Gregorius is batting .300 (12-for-40) and has a .341 on-base percentage this spring.