Major League Baseball

Jeter could start running soon

Published Jun. 26, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter soon could start a running program, a key step in his rehabilitation program for a strained right calf.

''Hopefully, that will be tomorrow or the next day,'' Jeter said Sunday.

There is no date yet for when the team captain, who turned 37 on Sunday, will rejoin the lineup. He's six hits shy of 3,000, a chase that has been on hold since he was injured June 13.

''You've got to run,'' said Jeter, who is on the DL for the first time since 2003. ''Once you start running, then we'll have a better sense.''

Jeter worked out in a batting cage for the second straight day Sunday at the Yankees' minor-league complex. He took 39 swings off the tee and 35 swings of soft toss. A plan for him to take grounders on the grass in front of the infield dirt was postponed because of a steady rain.

Jeter was also scheduled to jog lightly for the second day in a row, manager Joe Girardi said before the Yankees played the Colorado Rockies in New York.

''If it was up to me, I'd be playing now,'' Jeter said, ''but you have to be smart.''

Also, Yankees starting right-hander Bartolo Colon, out with a strained right hamstring, is scheduled to pitch in a simulated game on Monday. Infielder Eric Chavez, sidelined by a broken left foot, took batting practice in the cage.