CHARLESTON, S.C. — Alex Rodriguez made no guarantees about returning to an elite level before beginning his rehab assignment with Class-A Charleston Tuesday night.
“I’m as intrigued as you guys are,” Rodriguez said during a press conference before playing his first game since last year’s playoffs. “It’s gonna be a challenge, but I do feel the first step to that is getting healed up and mended. I’ve worked extremely hard to get myself to be in a position to be successful and simply to be one of the guys and help the guys win.”
Rodriguez has been rehabbing from January hip surgery and after a conference call that included the third baseman and GM Brian Cashman Monday, the decision was made to start the 20-day clock that should end with Rodriguez back with the Yankees.
“We’re scheduled to play, hopefully, 20 days from now,” Rodriguez said. “So I feel very confident.”
It remains to be seen how effective Rodriguez can be when he gets back to The Bronx.
“Look, this is the first time I’ll have been out there… in almost eight or nine months,” Rodriguez said. “I think anything that has to do with putting the ball in play, making a couple of plays [at third base] would be a huge moral victory for me. I’m looking forward to getting my feet wet.”
Rodriguez said he expects to play Tuesday and Wednesday with Charleston and then just workout Thursday before heading back to Florida to play for Single-A Tampa Friday to play in Lakeland.
“The biggest challenge has been the weather,” said Rodriguez, who was joined by Eduardo Nunez (oblique). “I have 20 [days] to get it right and we don’t want to lose dates. Nunez has lost several dates.”
As Cashman said Monday, Rodriguez expects to use the full 20-day window to get back.
“I think because I haven’t played in eight, nine months, we’ll try to take full advantage of the 20 days,” Rodriguez said. “We have the All-Star break in the middle, too, so that’s a little help.”
And he’s confident he’s still getting better.
“I’ve been very encouraged the last 10 days,” Rodriguez said. “I turned the corner a little bit and that gave us the optimism to get into a more aggressive rehab program. So the next 20 days will be very big.”
That’s true of both Rodriguez and the Yankees.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything,” Rodriguez said. “Look, let’s be honest, the way the year ended last year was pretty bloody. We got swept [by the Tigers in the ALCS], I got benched and pinch-hit for and I have no one to blame but myself, because I stunk up the house. You think about that for eight or nine months, that’s enough to fuel you to come back and hopefully be a player that can help the team and be an impact in the middle of our lineup.”
That process starts Tuesday at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park
“I think we’re all, including myself, intrigued to see how my body reacts,” said Rodriguez, adding he has not been in contact with MLB regarding its investigation into the Biogensis scandal. “And to see if there’s a big difference from the way I ended last year to how I’m gonna play this year.”
As for his communication with Cashman, which turned ugly last week, Rodriguez said: “We’ve had several conversations, which have included, obviously, the announcement [Monday] and also the schedule for the next 20 days and I think everybody’s lined up. We have the same interests, we have the same goals, which is to get me back to New York as soon as possible and hopefully, like 2009, win a championship.”