A-Rod shifts across the infield and works out at first base

TAMPA – Just a hours after finally using his first baseman's mitt, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez lost it. He was standing in Yankees' the clubhouse talking about his determination to learn the new position, but when he dug through his locker, Rodriguez couldn't find the glove anywhere.

Inexplicably, it had been moved to the top of a locker some 25 feet away.

"Finding my first base mitt will be the hardest thing," Rodriguez joked.

Moving across the diamond is just one more wrinkle in an already bizarre spring for the former superstar, who remains the focus of intense scrutiny in Yankees camp, despite the fact his early workouts have been too light to reveal anything meaningful about his ability to actually help the team.

"I do whatever they tell me," Rodriguez said. "I'm just happy to get some playing time."

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One thing the Yankees have told Rodriguez is that he could be a backup option at first base, a position he's never played, and one he'd never even practiced until Friday when he covered the bag and fielded a few grounders during drills designed primarily for pitchers to practice their defense.

Rodriguez called it an "introduction" to the position and said he plans to begin truly learning first base during early work in the coming days and weeks.

"I think it's important that he go over there and tries to get a better understanding of what the position entails," manager Joe Girardi said. "… It's one of the few places that you hold the runner on, in a sense, and then you have to sprint and change the way you're shaped for a ground ball, so your setup is different. All your responsibilities on cuts and relays. It's just different. And you're looking, in a sense, the opposite way."

Rodriguez moved from shortstop to third base in his first year with the Yankees, but he's now 39 years old, coming off a year-long suspension, and he faces plenty of uncertainty without learning a new position. The Yankees, though, are looking for ways Rodriguez can fit into their roster, and they're looking for additional depth behind injury-prone Mark Teixeira.

With experienced first baseman Garrett Jones already on the bench, it would seem the opportunities for Rodriguez to play first base might be few and far between, but this is all about preparation, both for the Yankees and for Rodriguez.

"I think we've seen over the last two years, there's a lot of times you don't think someone would ever play a position," Girardi said. "And then things change."

Ryan shut down with back injury: The Yankees have their first spring training injury. Backup shortstop Brendan Ryan is expected to miss approximately five days of activity because of a mild strain in the middle of his back. The light-hitting defensive specialist hurt himself doing biceps curls before arriving in Tampa.

"It's an eyewash exercise anyway," Ryan said. "I don't know what I'm doing in (the weight room) in the first place, you know? What am I going to go from hitting two homers to four?"

Support for Sabathia: CC Sabathia threw a bullpen on Friday and has been wearing a protective brace on his surgically repaired right knee.

"Whatever keeps his knee in the best health, we want him to do," Girardi said.

Yankee clippings: Girardi said he wasn't ready to name starting pitchers for next week's opening exhibition games. Adam Warren is expected to start one of the early games, perhaps the opener. … The Yankees are scheduled to play an intrasquad game on Sunday. The exhibition schedule begins Tuesday. … Top prospect Luis Severino and new starter Nathan Eovaldi drew strong reviews for their simulated games on Friday.

Jennings writes for the (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News, a Gannett property

GALLERY: ALEX RODRIGUEZ