Girardi unaware of Jeter's stress fracture

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TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 18 (UPI) -- New York Yankees Manager Joe Girardi said he was unaware of the left foot stress fracture Derek Jeter had before he broke his ankle.

Speaking separately to reporters at the Yankees' spring training facility in Tampa, Fla., Jeter said he was told he had a stress fracture before he broke his ankle in the first game of last season's American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers, but Girardi said he never heard the term associated with Jeter's foot.

"I was not aware of it," Girardi said of the stress fracture. "I knew he had a bone bruise." He added that if he knew a bone bruise could lead to a broken ankle, "We wouldn't have been playing him."

"They told me it was a bone bruise," Jeter said. "Eventually it turned into a stress fracture and broke in half."

Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman, reached by phone, said he did not know what happened between the bruise being diagnosed and the break, but added the Yankees did not knowingly play Jeter with anything more than a bone bruise, the New York Post reported Monday.

"The bone bruise got worse and led to the break. What happened in between I couldn't tell you. It's possible after the break they told him he had a stress fracture over time," Cashman said.

Although limping at spring training, Jeter said he is optimistic he can return to the lineup by Opening Day on April 1.

"I broke my ankle in October. It's been quite some time. I'm right where I'm supposed to be [in rehabilitation]. The ankle has healed perfectly. Now it is just a matter of getting everything else in shape," he said.