Derek Jeter placed on disabled list by Yankees

Derek Jeter, of course, said he expected to be ready to play against the Red Sox Friday night.

The Yankees were skeptical, though, so they sent their captain for a second MRI on his strained right quadriceps muscle Thursday.

They didn't like what they saw -- general manager Brian Cashman termed it "some minimal healing" -- so Jeter was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 12. He will be eligible to return next Saturday.

"I don't think they trust me too much anymore, so they put me in the MRI machine again," Jeter said at Fenway Park. "I can't fake out the tests. They had to take that MRI to prove to them I was ready, and I wasn't."

Jeter, 39, hoped to be ready for Opening Day after breaking his left ankle last October. Instead, he made his season debut July 11 as the designated hitter. He strained his quad running out a grounder in his third at-bat, left the game early and hadn't done anything since then except get treatment. On Friday, for the first time, he rode a stationary bike.

"Right now, it's fine," Jeter said. "But I haven't run. I'm pretty sure they'll make me run before they let me play. I assumed if I wasn't going to be on the disabled list, I'd probably have to try to run today. But I get it. I get the fact that it's been a week since I last played and there's certain steps along the way."

Of course, Jeter thinks he'll be ready when his DL stint is up.

SEE PHOTOSDerek Jeter timeline

"Why not?" he said. "I was hoping to play today. You ask me, I want to play. But I understand there's something that needs to be better before I play."

Cashman was less certain. "I wish I could say yes," he said. "I think he'd say yes, but I can't say yes."

The good news for the Yankees is that they could have Alex Rodriguez at third base Monday and Jeter at shortstop five days later. But the way this injury-plagued season has gone, who would want to bet on that best-case scenario coming true?

Cashman wouldn't even rule out the need for another minor-league rehab stint for Jeter.

"I don't think he feels he's going to need that," he said. "I think we'll have to talk about that after we get him healthy, so we'll see."

So the Yankees soldiered on against the first-place Red Sox without Jeter. He didn't have to travel to Boston with the team but said he plans to be with them until he's ready.

"It's frustrating," Jeter said. "I spent a lot of time to try to get my ankle right and get back on the field, which I did, and finally when I was good to go, something else happened . . . I hear people say I came back too soon. I don't think that was the case. I was ready to come back, I came back, I was running fine, and this happened. But this happens to guys who go through full spring trainings and play a lot of games."