Jason Giambi was supposed to play first base for the Yankees last night, but was moved DH due to a sore right wrist.
It’s a necessary precaution; in the Yankees’ lineup this season, Giambi has done the work of two men. And let’s face it: He isn’t in there for his D.
Giambi was asked if he were concerned about throwing before last night’s game against the Orioles, and he responded with self-deprecating humor.
“It’s not that good anyway,” Giambi joked of his throwing, before modifying the punchline. “I have a good arm.
“I just don’t know where it’s going.”
After getting nailed in the right wrist on Wednesday in Toronto, Giambi tested the joint by hitting indoors until right before the first pitch against Baltimore. It was manager Joe Torre’s call to move him to DH.
That bumped Bernie Williams out of the starting lineup, as Andy Phillips played first and batted ninth.
Giambi was plunked in the seventh inning Wednesday by Scott Schoeneweis, and received treatment on the off-day Thursday. Giambi wasn’t certain he’d be ready for last night, even though Torre wrote him into the lineup.
“It’s sore,” Giambi said yesterday afternoon. “He [Schoeneweis] got me good. “Usually I get out of the way, but he got me good.”
Usually, Giambi attacks AL pitchers, not the other way around. The Yankees first baseman’s .763 slugging percentage is fifth in the AL.
Fourteen games into the season, the 35-year-old has arguably been the team’s best overall hitter. Giambi entered last night with a .316 batting average – fourth among regular Yankees – and was tied for the team lead with five homers and tied for second with 12 RBIs.
Beyond his numbers, Giambi has been an on-base machine. His .519 on-base percentage was second in the AL, and he had drawn at least one walk in eight of the 13 games he had played before last night.
Torre said there aren’t many people in baseball that can combine Giambi’s mammoth power and discerning plate discipline. The only name Torre came up with was Barry Bonds, whose walks often come intentionally from pitchers too terrified to face him.
“It’s very unusual,” Torre said of Giambi’s approach. “Jason is one of the few who has an at-bat like a singles hitter.
“And yet when he gets into a situation where the count is in his favor, he knows how to approach different pitchers different ways.
“He’s unusual, I think, to have someone with his power and have the eye that he has – and the patience that he has.”
Giambi’s teammates feel the No. 5 hitter serves as something of a second leadoff hitter – albeit one with Paul Bunyan power – and he’s the frequent catalyst of rallies with his plate discipline.
“Which is fine with me, because when you go top to bottom, we don’t have a soft spot,” Torre said. “If you’re saying, ‘Damn, swing at that pitch,’ because you have to knock in the run – that’s not the case here.
“We have guys following him. So any time we have guys on base, we feel especially with the designated hitter, we feel like we can start a rally anywhere.”
There’s an argument that the Yankees should let Phillips play first base regularly, or put Carlos Pena there when he’s ready. The Yanks signed Pena, a slick-fielding former Tiger, to a minor-league deal on April 15, and assigned him to Triple-A Columbus.
If that scenario comes to pass, Williams’ at-bats will be limited.
Giambi was given his 2005 Comeback Player of the Year award on the field before last night’s game. All signs indicate he’ll return to the field before too long.
michael.morrissey@nypost.com
