Alex Rodriguez back in action for New York Yankees

Alex Rodriguez returned to professional baseball on Wednesday when he played for the New York Yankees against the Philadelphia Phillies in a Spring Training game in Florida.

The much-maligned player, who had been banned from the game for the whole of the 2014 season after admitting to taking steroids, had a hit and a walk in three at-bats against the Phillies, who beat the Yankees 3-1.

Rodriguez, who also had two hip operations during his time away from the game, was greeted with a mixture of boos and cheers upon his arrival to the plate.

He said: “Once you hit rock bottom, any time you hear a few cheers these days is a pleasant surprise.”

A-Rod’s hit came in the first inning on a 0-2 count after he swung wildly at a couple of pitches. He grounded out in the third inning, and walked in the sixth inning.

With his injuries and lack of practice, no one is really expecting Rodriguez to be in the starting line-up for the Yankees when they open their regular season campaign against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on April 6.

"It's going to take two or three weeks for me to kind of get a gauge where I am," he said.