Pre-Game Notes: Jeter, A-Rod and The Rotation

Starting tonight in Baltimore, the Yankees open up a very important four-game series against the Orioles, whom the Yanks are chasing in the Wild Card standings. Coming off a wild weekend in the Bronx against the Boston Red Sox, there's been a lot of injury news to report on for the Yanks, as well as some other little nuggets.

First pitch at Camden Yards is scheduled for 7:05 pm EST, and until then, here's what is happening around the team as they enter play tonight.

A-Rod in the two-hole: That's right, according to the Yankees lineup at just after 3:40 pm this afternoon, Alex Rodriguez will be batting second for the Bombers tonight, slotted right between Brett Gardner and Robinson Cano.

The last time that A-Rod was listed as hitting second in the lineup was on August 26th, 2006 against the Los Angeles Angels. In his career, he has batted second 497 times, hitting a combined .320 with 118 homers and a .948 OPS.

Almonte back in uniform: Zoilo Almonte is finally back with the Yankees after being out for several weeks due to a sprained left ankle he suffered in a Yankees loss to the Red Sox back in mid-July. Almonte had began his rehab assignment with Double-A Trenton last Thursday, playing a few games on New Jersey before heading out to Baltimore to rejoin the Bombers.

Is it Huff, Hughes or someone else? When the Yankees lineup card was posted, even more noticeable than A-Rod batting second was the fact that David Huff was listed as just another reliever for the Yanks, along with Phil Hughes, suggesting the Yanks currently have a four-man rotation.

Manager Joe Girardi told reporters that Huff could be used out of the bullpen tonight, but he also said that no changes have been made in the rotation. So as of right now, who will be starting for the Yankees on Thursday is currently unknown.

“We’re going to get through these three days and see where we're at," Girardi said. “I'm not saying I’m changing anything, but if we need Huff (out of the bullpen), we need Huff."

Still no baseball for Jeter: Girardi also announced before the game that Derek Jeter, who's currently nursing a sore left ankle, would not be taking part in any baseball related activities today. He also said that he's unsure if Jeter would be able to play on Tuesday.

When he asked about Jeter playing tomorrow, Girardi responded, "To play? I don't know. We'll go a day at a time with him. We'll just try to keep him off it from doing a lot of baseball activities; see how it is tomorrow."

"I might use him in an emergency if I had to use him tonight," Girardi added. "That's kind of the situation we're in. It's not like I have a number of shortstops lying around."

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