Chavez could do 'baseball stuff' soon

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Joe Girardi said Friday that "it's possible" that Eric Chavez, on the disabled list since May 6 with a fracture in his left foot, could do some "baseball stuff" when the Yankees return home. "We'll have to evaluate when we get home on Tuesday,'' he said, "but hopefully we can start doing some BP and maybe throwing and maybe even taking some ground balls."

Chavez, hitting .303 with a .410 on-base percentage in 17 games before suffering the injury while legging out a triple in Detroit, said two weeks ago that he hoped to begin running then, but his foot wasn't deemed quite ready. "The big thing is he's got to be able to run without having pain and without a limp," Girardi said. "He's got to be able to run."

Big help

Girardi said his bullpen has received a huge lift because of the distance his starters provided in the last four games. CC Sabathia pitched eight innings Sunday in Seattle, Bartolo Colon nine Monday in Oakland and Freddy Garcia and A.J. Burnett seven each Tuesday and Wednesday.

"When we had , we had three guys for the seventh and the eighth and now we have two guys," Girardi said, referring to David Robertson and Joba Chamberlain. "It's been important because they [starters] have gotten us into the seventh and eighth and sometimes the ninth."

Happy anniversary

Friday marked the eighth anniversary of the day George Steinbrenner named Derek Jeter the 11th recognized captain in the franchise's history.

"There's an expectation when you play with Derek to win every day," Girardi said. "And he does a lot of his work by just example. You know that when you come into the clubhouse that Derek's in, there's the expectation that we need to win every day, and that's the way he plays the game."

Extra bases

RHP Phil Hughes is still on schedule to throw a simulated inning against hitters Saturday . . . With Monday being an off day, Girardi said he has not yet set his rotation for the Red Sox series Tuesday through Thursday.