Jeter to Rejoin Yankees for Series With Angels

Derek Jeter said he is ready to return to the New York Yankees on Tuesday.

“Basically, it’s up to me,” the star shortstop said Sunday. The Yankees “have asked me if I’m ready to play. I’ll play.”

Jeter, with a bulky heat pack on his left shoulder, spoke before ending his five-game rehabilitation assignment with double-A Trenton.

He has not played with the Yankees since opening day when he dislocated his left shoulder in a collision with Toronto catcher Ken Huckaby at third base.

The Yankees are off today and open a three-game series against the Angels on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. Jeter said he would take today off.

*

St. Louis Cardinal right fielder Eli Marrero had to be taken off the field on a stretcher after injuring his right ankle when he slipped on the wet grass chasing a fly ball against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

A preliminary examination determined that Marrero had a severely sprained right ankle. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for X-rays.

Marrero, who entered the game in right field as a replacement when J.D. Drew left in the second inning because of a stiff back, was going after a fourth-inning fly ball by Juan Cruz.