TORONTO _ Speaking Tuesday night in Baltimore Jacoby Ellsbury called it "a good day."
The headaches present since he suffered a concussion six days before finally started to go away and he indicated a return to the lineup was coming soon.
The good days have been just about nonexistent since then.
In what can only be described as a setback, the center fielder started experiencing headaches again on Friday and he is scheduled to see a neurologist after the Yankees return to New York from this seven-game trip that ends Sunday afternoon.
"He's still getting headaches, they kind of came back," Joe Girardi said late Saturday morning.
Girardi said Ellsbury "felt good" when he arrived at Rogers Centre Friday afternoon and the intent was for the outfielder to take batting practice.
But the headaches returned.
Ellsbury, who sustained the concussion May 24 when he crashed into the Stadium center-field wall making a catch against the Royals, had not been doing much in the way of baseball activities, relegated mostly to some light hitting and various exercises like running in the outfield.
"As I told him yesterday, 'we just have to get you healthy,' " Girardi said. "These things, you can't predict. It's not a broken bone where you say it will heal in six weeks, or it's a Grade 1 strain where you say a guy's coming back in two weeks. We don't know. Sometimes you'll feel good and then the increased activity will hurt you. So far that's what has been his problem, the increased activity."
Girardi said Ellsbury, who is on the trip but has not spoken to the media since Tuesday, is "frustrated" by his slow progress.
"It's tough when you have a concussion, you just have to be careful and do the right thing," Girardi said. "It's probably the trickiest injury for us to deal with. I know he's frustrated, he wants to come back."
Making it easier to deal with Ellsbury's absence has been the continued excellence of Aaron Hicks. Ellsbury was hitting a respectable .281/.349/.422 in 38 games when he went to the seven-day concussion DL, but Hicks has been otherworldly. Hicks came into Saturday having hit safely in six straight games and 14 for 34 with a .463 OBP in his previous 10. He ranked second in the AL in OBP (. 438).
Still, Girardi said, the four-man outfield rotation among Ellsbury, Hicks, Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge, helped all involved.
"It's definitely helped," Girardi said of Hicks' performance. "But that four-man rotation kept guys pretty fresh, too, so we definitely miss Jake."
Girardi said he doesn't see a need to call up another outfielder from the minors because he wouldn't hesitate to put utility man Rob Refsnyder in the outfield mix.
"I feel I can put him in left and right and feel pretty comfortable," Girardi said. "He's played a lot of outfield in his career."
