Yankees' Granderson flexible on position, lineup spot

TAMPA, Fla. - If Joe Girardi's final verdict after spring training is that Curtis Granderson should start in leftfield, that will be just fine with Granderson.

In fact, Girardi made sure it would be during the offseason.

"He called and asked, hey, how do you feel about that and be honest with me if you don't [want to], let me know," Granderson said Monday at the Yankees' minor-league complex.

"I said I'm able to do that and/or move up and down the lineup. I've batted every spot pretty much except for the third spot. So I have no problem moving, switching, bouncing around wherever it happens to be."

Though Granderson has played the majority of his career in center, he has some experience in left, parts of 22 big-league games (only three starts). But in his formative baseball years, that wasn't the case.

"I have no problem doing it," Granderson said. "People forget that I came up as a leftfielder, in the minor leagues all the way up until Double-A. I didn't start playing centerfield consistently until my second year in the minors. And even when I came to the big leagues, I played a few games in left . . . I have no problems going back over there if it happens to be."

Granderson made his first appearance in Tampa as a Yankee Monday, taking batting practice with Derek Jeter, Brett Gardner, catcher Francisco Cervelli and shortstop Eduardo Nuñez, all of whom also were at the complex last week. After BP, Granderson and Gardner did over-the-shoulder fielding drills with third-base coach Rob Thomson, then spent about 30 minutes working on their bunting with Thomson.

As Granderson referenced, his position in the batting order hasn't yet been determined. He's hit leadoff in 548 of his 674 career games, but he won't be doing that for the Yankees with Jeter entrenched there. After leadoff, the position he's occupied the most is the No. 9 hole (51 games), and he's been in each spot between 1-9 at least two games in his career.

Girardi could bat Granderson second against righties - he's a career .292 hitter against them - but he would be an unlikely No. 2 candidate against lefties. Granderson is a career .210 hitter against them, which includes .183 last season.

Girardi has said figuring out where to hit Granderson is among the prominent questions to be answered in spring training, but Granderson isn't concerned.

"If there's guys on, I gotta drive them in," he said. "If there's not, my job's to get on base. So it really doesn't matter to me too much."

Granderson went to Arizona in January to work with hitting coach Kevin Long, get a feel for Long's philosophy and work on his issues against lefties. Granderson said Long diagnosed a mechanical breakdown.

"I just get over the plate a little bit," Granderson said. "Mentally, I'm trying to hit the ball the other way and that therefore makes me physically break down."

Tape showed a difference in Granderson's approach to righthanders.

"[Long] said mechanically, everything looks good against righties. Against lefthanders, you break down a little bit," Granderson said. "He said if we can get back to the same situation where you are against righties and do that consistently against lefties, we think you should be OK."

Notes & quotes: A.J. Burnett also made his first appearance of spring training, playing catch briefly in the morning. Other pitchers were Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, David Robertson, Alfredo Aceves, Chad Gaudin and Boone Logan, who were all here last week. Chamberlain and Hughes provided the day's signature photo moment when they threw their bullpen sessions together . . . Gardner, who sported a mostly clean-shaven head last season, has a full head of hair. He hasn't cut it since the end of the season.