A-Rod ready for next phase of rehab

Apr 10, 2009 - 8:22 PM KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Alex Rodriguez is to resume baseball activities Monday, more than a month following hip surgery on March 9.

The third baseman has been working out in Vail, Colo., since the operation. The Yankees start a three-game series Monday at the AL champion Tampa Bay Rays, and Yankees manager Joe Girardi said the three-time AL MVP will resume swinging a bat after he reports to the team's minor league complex.

Girardi said Friday that Rodriguez has been swinging a broom for the past few weeks and slowly increasing his workload. Girardi doesn't expect Rodriguez to return to the Yankees before mid-May.

"In my mind, I'm still thinking May 15 -- five weeks away. That's my thought process," Girardi said before the Yankees helped Kansas City open renovated Kauffman Stadium on Friday.

"We expect him to be there on Monday and doing all baseball stuff, hitting, throwing, running, just continuing his rehab. So far it's went very well and you just hope there's no setbacks and he continues to progress."

In Colorado, Rodriguez has also been lifting weights, riding a stationary bike, working out in a pool and performing range of motion drills.

"I believe he's swung a broom handle, which is much different than a bat," Girardi said. "I talked to him through a text just a couple of days ago. He's excited."

While swinging the broom handle, Girardi said, Rodriguez has been "hitting something. I'm not exactly sure what it was."