Yankees Can Do Without Teixeira's April Vacation In 2011
By Jeff Capellini, CBSNewYork/WFAN.com
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- There are slow starters and then there is Mark Teixeira. We all know it, but the odds are the Yankees really cannot afford it this time around.
As the Bombers embark on a season that finds them in the very unfamiliar position as underdogs to not only win the World Series, but, perhaps, even make the playoffs, all eyes will be on more than just their suspect pitching rotation.
In a year that will command the all-hands-on-deck mentality more than any other in recent memory, many fans and even more media members will be focused on Teixeira, mostly because he's kind of misplaced his reputation as a complete offensive player.
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In other words, a lot of people think that his days of hitting for average in addition to power have begun to dissipate. No one is saying Teixeira has become a feast or famine hacker up there at the plate, but his recent numbers suggest he has lost something over the last 365 days, something he really needs to get back in a hurry if he's to be the player the Yankees expect individually and the first course they will serve in the meat of the order.
Yankees fans have pretty much accepted the fact that no matter how good Teixeira looks in spring training, once the season starts he'll spend the first month wandering through a maze of adjustment. However, despite being a career .237 hitter in April, Teixeira had always righted the ship by the time mid-May has rolled around and gone on to the types of seasons that have secured his rock-solid career .286 average.
But last season, for whatever reason, Teixeira started terribly and never quite found his groove. On May 1, 2010, he was hitting .153. Many just chalked it up to Mark being Mark, off the Mark but likely to turn things around soon. On June 1, his average had crawled up to .220, but he was giving no indication a Teixeira-like hot streak was just around the corner.
It never happened. And to be honest it was never close to happening.
Teixeira was at .234 on June 1 and .256 a month later. His high-water mark was .269 on Sept. 2 before finishing at just a shade above one hit in every four at-bats for the season.
Contrary to popular belief, slow starts haven't always been the norm for the first baseman. After a month in both 2006 and 2008 he was at .297 and .265, respectively, and on his way to the types of seasons that were really more indicative of what Teixeira is as a hitter. In 2009 he was at .189 on May 1, but jacked his average nearly 100 points over the next 30 days.
But last season is just tough to explain. Though he still finished with 33 home runs and 108 RBIs, many of Teixeira's other numbers nose-dived as badly as his average. Despite being third in the AL with 93 walks, Teixeira saw his on-base percentage sink to .365, and his slugging percentage dipped to .481, his lowest in each category since his rookie season in 2003.
Maybe New York's Aprils just don't jive with Teixeira's Maryland upbringing and Georgia college days. Temperatures are obviously warmer in Arlington, Texas, and Atlanta than they are in the Bronx. Perhaps he tinkers with his swing too much or feels just a bit more pressure to get off to the type of starts expected of a Yankee, let alone one who plays the same position as guys like Lou Gehrig and Don Mattingly, to name a few.
Regardless, Teixeira's overall body of work suggests he's a lot more than simply a slugger. He's a line-drive hitter from both sides of the box. And though the Yankees' lineup is basically loaded from top to bottom, how Teixeira does batting third sets things up for the next two guys in the order, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano.
Even if he's not making solid contact, Teixeira needs to find a way to get on base and keep the carousel moving until the time comes when he's the one launching balls into the second deck or one-hopping liners for ground-rule doubles.
With the many question marks that are surrounding the starting pitchers and advancing age having a showdown with some of their biggest sticks, the Yankees simply cannot afford to have one of their best offensive players -- a man smack-dab in the middle of his prime -- being a liability at any point.
So, simply accepting another slow start from Teixeira is really no longer acceptable. The Yankees are in a precarious position, one that will require their offense to be even better than advertised. Teixeira is showcased as a key component, one that general managers across the league would lay down in front of trains to have in their lineups.
But this pinstripe engine cannot spend the early part of his trip at the station, not when the journey is expected to be longer and more perilous this time around.
As we've found out over the years, no man can avoid the boo birds at Yankee Stadium. And as exceptional as Teixeira is with his glove, all the diving stabs in the world will not replace what he's really expected to do -- be an absolute menace at the dish.
His time down in Florida has been spent refining his swing and focusing a little less on lifting weights, mostly because there is a fine line between bulk and how a bat feels in a hitter's hands. Teixeira has said he's searching for that balance needed to drive the ball but at the same time keep his weight evenly distributed to perhaps use more of the field in any given at-bat. Not to become a singles hitter, mind you, but to extend his plate appearances until the time comes that he feels more locked in and patient for that pitch he can put a move on.
The Yankees need him to find these pitches earlier than usual. If they had their druthers, Teixeira will begin by launching shots through the ominous skies of April.
That's because the weather in the AL East figures to be stormy well into the summer and beyond.
Read more columns by Jeff Capellini.
Have thoughts on Teixeira's early season struggles or on the Yankees' prospects for 2011? Please share them in the comments section below.
