BALTIMORE — With headaches from the concussion he suffered last Wednesday gone, Jacoby Ellsbury participated in baseball activities before the Yankees’ 8-3 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards.
“Today is the best I have felt,’’ said Ellsbury, who is eligible to come off the seven-day concussion disabled list Thursday when the Yankees open a four-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto. “As far as the headaches I feel a lot better today.’’
Manager Joe Girardi said the plan was for Ellsbury to do some running and possibly hit in the indoor cage.
Ellsbury also suffered a sprained ligament in the neck when he crashed into the Yankee Stadium center-field wall making a catch against the Royals.
“My neck feels better each day,’’ said Ellsbury, who watched Aaron Hicks start a fifth straight game in center.
Until he is told otherwise, Ellsbury plans on flying with the team to Canada following Wednesday night’s game against the Birds.
“I am here, I am assuming [going to] Toronto,’’ said Ellsbury, who is batting .281 with a .349 on-base percentage in 39 games.
Girardi didn’t say Ellsbury won’t go with the team and labeled an Ellsbury return this weekend possible.
“It comes down to how he reacts to the exercise and he has to pass the [concussion] test again,’’ Girardi said. “You never know how they are going to react once they start moving around.’’
Since Ellsbury got hurt catching the ball at the same time he was crashing into the padded wall, he was asked about attempting another catch under similar circumstances.
“I made a lot of them all the time and I play to win and play hard,’’ Ellsbury said. “If the ball is in the air I will try to catch it.’’
After throwing on flat ground Sunday and Monday, Aroldis Chapman didn’t throw Tuesday. Girardi said the closer didn’t experience any problems working on consecutive days and will throw Wednesday.
Chapman has been on the DL since May 14 with rotator cuff inflammation in the left shoulder.
With Chris Carter in a 2-for-28 (.071) slide Girardi turned to Rob Refsnyder to start at first base Tuesday night.
“His at-bats when we have had him here have been good,’’ Girardi said of Refsnyder’s three big league at-bats this season that hadn’t produced a hit. “I thought I would give Chris a day off and give Ref a chance to see what he can do out there.’’
Refsnyder went 0-for-3 with a walk and was replaced by Carter for defense in the home seventh. Carter grounded out in one at-bat.
Girardi wouldn’t commit to Refsnyder getting more chances to play the position the Yankees hope Greg Bird can eventually return to.
Bird is scheduled to play in a Single-A game for Tampa on Thursday. He is on the DL with a right ankle bruise.
“We are looking at it today and we will make decisions [Wednesday],’’ Girardi said of first base where Carter has started 27 games and has whiffed 45 times to his 19 hits. He was batting .188 entering Thursday’s action. “The last few days have been tough. Before that he was hitting a little bit. Maybe a day off will help him.’’
Asked if he was worried about the horrid numbers, last year’s NL leader in homers with 41, said he would rather focus on improving.
“I try not to think about it. I’m just working on trying to get better results,’’ said Carter, who hasn’t cluttered his mind with Bird’s return. “I’m not thinking about anything else other than getting better results. It’s definitely tough. You want to be productive when you have the chance. I’ve been through it before.’’
Refsnyder appeared in seven games at first base, nine at second and four in right field for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre where he has hit .303 with a homer, 10 RBIs and an .845 OPS. Tuesday night was Refsnyder’s first game action since being recalled last Thursday.
With the Bryce Harper-Hunter Strickland situation a hot topic, Girardi was asked if there is way to keep players away from getting involved in bench-clearing brawls.
“I don’t know how you change it. I guess you could say, ‘No one can leave your position, I don’t know. How are you not going to protect your teammate? It’s that instinct that, hey that’s my guy. I am going to have a problem if a guy doesn’t do that.’’
Which led to Girardi being asked about Giants catcher Buster Posey not rushing to get in front of Harper who was charging the mound with a helmet in his hand.
“Not my comment,’’ Girardi said.
Left-hander Justus Sheffield was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for May 22-28.
Sheffield, who came from the Indians in the Andrew Miller deal last July, went 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in two starts for Double-A Trenton.
Yankees starters have given up two earned runs or fewer in nine straight games.