Jeter tries new mental approach at plate

Joe Nathan's fastball is missing a few digits on the radar gun as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery, but clearly he wasn't afraid to challenge Derek Jeter with it Tuesday night.

With the count full and the Twins' closer trying to secure the last out in the 10th inning, the Stony Brook University product threw the same 91-mph fastball to Jeter three straight times.

It was all but a dare to the struggling Yankees captain. Go ahead and time this pitch. It's all yours.

After fouling off two straight fastballs, Jeter swung and missed at the third, putting a fittingly deflating end to the Yankees' 5-4 loss on a bitterly cold night in the Bronx.

Clearly the Yankees' shortstop is far from the biggest reason why they lost this game -- one in which they led by four runs with four outs left to achieve -- yet the game's final out serves as the latest reminder that the 2011 Jeter is looking quite similar to the 2010 version that struggled all season.

This was supposed to be another renaissance year for Jeter, equipped with a new swing, and it still very well might turn into one. We're only five games in. But also know that Jeter has already taken it upon himself to change something.

Before the series opener against the Twins on Monday night, Jeter approached hitting coach Kevin Long and told him he was done thinking about the fixes they've been working on during his at-bats. That was the goal all along -- to stop thinking about the new stance -- but Jeter hadn't become comfortable enough to do just that.

It didn't help that the early results after three games -- lots of ground balls and very few hard-hit ones -- were anything but encouraging. So Jeter took action.

"He just said, 'I'm not going to think about anything tonight, and I'm just going to go up there and look for fastballs and try to get good pitches to hit and attack it that way and see what happens,' " Long said.

Jeter's new mental approach to his at-bats hasn't resulted in any real tangible success yet aside from a few line-drive outs Monday -- which Jeter called "progress" -- and a ground-ball single into leftfield in the second inning Tuesday night that snapped a nine at-bat hitless streak.

But Long said earlier in the day he noticed a distinct difference with Jeter's comfort level during his at-bats Monday night compared with how he appeared during the first three games of the season.

"It was the best I've seen him look, including spring training," Long said.

After going 1-for-4 Tuesday night -- including two more groundouts and the strikeout to end the game -- Jeter is 3-for-18 (.167) this season. No one needs to tell Jeter that it won't be long before his struggles become a daily issue, especially with his chase for his 3,000th hit officially off to a snail's pace.

Long has faith in the new swing because he's been working with Jeter on this new stance -- they removed the stride in his front leg -- since early last September.

But the new swing still hasn't become second nature yet for Jeter. Never one to reveal his inner thoughts, Jeter surprisingly had no problem admitting on Opening Day he was still thinking about the swing, but, "I try not to when the game starts."

That didn't last long, though. After three games, Jeter vowed to Long to stop thinking.

"He worked so hard on it, just trying to keep his stride in line," Long said, "and it got to a point where he thought that it was best he just went up there and hit."

And now everyone's waiting for him to do just that.