Gregorius back in lineup after brutal debut

Didi Gregorius was back in the lineup on Wednesday after getting drilled in the right elbow in Monday’s opener against Toronto.

It was just part of a dismal debut for Gregorius, whowas also thrown out trying to steal third base with two outs and two on in the bottom of the eighth of the Yankees’ 61 loss.

“We know that’s not the kind of player he is,” Chase Headley said. “I saw him play somewhen Iwas with the Padres and he was in the NL West [ with the Diamondbacks] and he’s a smart player. We all make mistakes and I think itwas that simple for him the other day. He’ll bounce back.”

Manager Joe Girardi said he didn’t expect any lingering impact from the 94 mph fastball Gregorius took the brunt of.

“He said he was fine,” Girardi said. “I’m sure the day off [ Tuesday] helped some.”

Austin Romine cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple A Scranton/ Wilkes Barre on Wednesday. Romine lost out to John Ryan Murphy in the battle to back up catcher Brian McCann and was designated for assignment on Saturday following an awful spring at the plate. The Yankees had 10 days to trade him or expose him to waivers.

He will likely start at Triple A ahead of Eddy Rodriguez. Romine, 26, has appeared in 76 games for the Yankees since 2011.

Girardi didn’t get a chance to use either Dellin Betances or Andrew Miller in Monday’s lopsided loss, but he said Wednesday he will approach his use of the bullpen in the ninth inning the same way he does from the sixth through the eighth.

The Yankees had the same lineup Wednesday as they did on Monday.

“I’m not going to start changing the lineup already,” Girardi said. “We’re one day in.”

He did say, though, that he would likely use righthanded bats like Chris Young and Gregorio Petit against lefthanded starters occasionally and the Yankees are scheduled to face two straight southpaws Thursday and Friday

Alex Rodriguez took grounders at first base before Wednesday night’s game.

Brett Gardner set a career high with 17 homers a year ago and followed that up by providing the Yankees’ only run on Monday with a home run.

“I’m still definitely not a homerun hitter,” Gardner said. “We’ve got a lot of other guys for that. I’m just going to worry about getting on base.”

Domingo German, the righthanded pitching prospect who came to the Yankees along with Nathan Eovaldi in the trade that sent David Phelps and Martin Prado to the Marlins, underwent Tommy John surgery.