How much did the team miss this man at the end of 2015? Greg Bird was great, don't get me wrong, but he was not the middle of the order presence that took the pressure off the Brian McCann's, the Alex Rodriguez's and the Carlos Beltran's. Get well soon Mark!
Showing posts with label Mark Teixeira Injuries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Teixeira Injuries. Show all posts
Friday, October 9, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
An Open Letter to Joe Girardi
Joe,
I hate to be the "I told you so" guy but I did kind of tell you so in a Twitter Poll and in a separate post that I thought the team should have placed Mark Teixeira on the 15 day disabled list the day he fouled that pitch off his leg and bruised his bone. I pointed out that the Yankees were in the middle of an American League East Division race and a race for one of the two available American League Wild Card spots and the team could not afford to give Teixeira "a day" once or twice a week because the leg was sore and not fully healed. I also mentioned that Teixeira was probably the most indispensable player on the entire team not only offensively but defensively and pleaded with you and the Yankees organization for a backdated DL stint, to no avail.
Someone, not saying you necessarily Mr. Girardi, decided in their infinite wisdom that Teixeira should start one of those games against the Houston Astros eliminating a week's worth of retroactive DL time. Teixeira was obviously uncomfortable at the plate and could not run the bases but the team decided his right-handed bat was needed against Houston's ace Dallas Keuchel despite the repercussions for the decision, those repercussions being that the Yankees played with a short bench in the American League parks and have played this weekend in Atlanta with just a two man bench.
Talent has bailed you out of a lot of your decisions in your Yankees tenure, not to say I think you have been a bad manager or that you should be perfect when nobody walking this Earth is, and it did again this weekend inside Turner Field. You could have a zero man bench when your team is leading by ten or more and it won't matter but that doesn't and shouldn't excuse you or the decision maker on their bad decision.
The decision to insert Teixeira's bat for that one game in Houston could have crippled this team and sent it into a whirlwind downward that could have spelled doom, or worse than that a missed playoff season in 2015. You're an extremely intelligent man Mr. Girardi but that decision, in my opinion, was stupid and uninformed.
Daniel Burch
I hate to be the "I told you so" guy but I did kind of tell you so in a Twitter Poll and in a separate post that I thought the team should have placed Mark Teixeira on the 15 day disabled list the day he fouled that pitch off his leg and bruised his bone. I pointed out that the Yankees were in the middle of an American League East Division race and a race for one of the two available American League Wild Card spots and the team could not afford to give Teixeira "a day" once or twice a week because the leg was sore and not fully healed. I also mentioned that Teixeira was probably the most indispensable player on the entire team not only offensively but defensively and pleaded with you and the Yankees organization for a backdated DL stint, to no avail.
Someone, not saying you necessarily Mr. Girardi, decided in their infinite wisdom that Teixeira should start one of those games against the Houston Astros eliminating a week's worth of retroactive DL time. Teixeira was obviously uncomfortable at the plate and could not run the bases but the team decided his right-handed bat was needed against Houston's ace Dallas Keuchel despite the repercussions for the decision, those repercussions being that the Yankees played with a short bench in the American League parks and have played this weekend in Atlanta with just a two man bench.
Talent has bailed you out of a lot of your decisions in your Yankees tenure, not to say I think you have been a bad manager or that you should be perfect when nobody walking this Earth is, and it did again this weekend inside Turner Field. You could have a zero man bench when your team is leading by ten or more and it won't matter but that doesn't and shouldn't excuse you or the decision maker on their bad decision.
The decision to insert Teixeira's bat for that one game in Houston could have crippled this team and sent it into a whirlwind downward that could have spelled doom, or worse than that a missed playoff season in 2015. You're an extremely intelligent man Mr. Girardi but that decision, in my opinion, was stupid and uninformed.
Daniel Burch
Monday, October 27, 2014
Teixeira to Lift More Weights This Offseason After Finding That Upper Body Strength is "Off-the-Charts Low"
Yankees' First Baseman Mark Teixeira may have finally found out what caused his hitting struggles this season.
In an interview he gave with ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike" earlier this week, Teixeira said that he charted his upper body strength Tuesday, with the results not exactly being positive. Teixeira, 34, is coming off the worst offensive campaign of his career this year, batting just .216 with 23 home runs and 62 RBI.
Teixeira said that he will attempt to get bigger with weight-lifting this offseason as a way to prepare himself for 2015, which begins for the Yankees on April 6.
"I understood that I need to get stronger," he said. "I didn't realize how weak I was upper-body. I'm going to be working the weights a lot harder. That will be my adjustment for this year."
Doing that certainly can't hurt anything, although Teixeira just staying healthy next season would also be a big help. This year, as Kuty points out, Teixeira missed time with exactly six different injuries, varying from his signature wrist wound to leg issues such as a sore knee.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Yankees Should Make Alex Rodriguez The Regular First Baseman
Yesterday it was reported that Joe Girardi has had conversations with Alex Rodriguez about playing first base. We don't know how extensive those talks were, but it's certainly something to consider since a second first baseman would be a very good thing for the Yankees to acquire. And that's even if they bring Chase Headley back, because Chase would likely be the regular third baseman.
If something were to happen to Mark Teixeira, like... say... he nicks his face while shaving and needs a day to recover from it, then what does Girardi do? Thanks to Martin Prado, it actually wouldn't be that difficult. But keep in mind that somebody from the bench is going to come into the game. And I think it's a safe bet that the offense would get weaker as a result, because it's very rare that a bench player will out-hit a regular.
Not to mention that the defense would likely take a hit.
For example, to start, let's say the Yankees bring back Chase Headley. While losing a gold glover in Teixeira at first base would hurt, they could probably get by just fine with Headley there. But if Chase were the regular third baseman, and he were replaced there by Alex Rodriguez, then that would be a much bigger problem. Basically, the defense would go down a little at first base, and would go down a lot at third.
So what do they do to combat that? Play Alex Rodriguez at first base regularly, while Mark Teixeira is the primary designated hitter.
In this scenario, if Mark Teixeira gets a mosquito bite doing the game and needs to take the rest of the night off, you can do so many things, as anybody can DH. And say Alex Rodriguez gets hurt, then just move Tex to 1B. Of course, assuming Tex started the game as the DH, then a pitcher is going to have to hit as you lose the DH when he changes positions. That's not a good thing, but chances are that move wouldn't happen until later in the game when you can pinch-hit for a reliever when that spot in the lineup comes up.
You can't avoid an offensive hit, but with ARod at 1B and Tex at DH you simplify things, and the defensive hit is minimized.
Let's look at things another way...
Alex Rodriguez is not the poster child for great health. In 2011 he missed 39 games for his right knee, missed 36 games due to fracturing his left hand in 2012, and of course had hip surgery in 2013. But he hasn't had any further problems with his right knee, his left hand recovered just fine from the fracture, and he just spent the entire 2014 season resting and recovering from that hip surgery. At this point, ARod should be fairly healthy.
On the other hand you have Mark Teixeira. In 2013 Mark missed 147 games due to tearing a tendon sheath in his right wrist, and has had problems with that wrist since (including missing 5 games this past season). On top of that, this past season, he had to go on the 15-day disabled list because of straining his right hamstring. Furthermore, this past season, he missed time due to issues involving his left wrist, fingers of his left hand, back, trunk, and groin.
The bottom line is that Mark Teixeira is a much bigger question mark, as far as health, than Alex Rodriguez. Because of that, it might be a good idea to make it a goal that Alex becomes the regular first baseman, while Tex becomes the regular DH.
"I'm a Yankee again, and I will play regularly at 3B? Sweet!"
If something were to happen to Mark Teixeira, like... say... he nicks his face while shaving and needs a day to recover from it, then what does Girardi do? Thanks to Martin Prado, it actually wouldn't be that difficult. But keep in mind that somebody from the bench is going to come into the game. And I think it's a safe bet that the offense would get weaker as a result, because it's very rare that a bench player will out-hit a regular.
Not to mention that the defense would likely take a hit.
For example, to start, let's say the Yankees bring back Chase Headley. While losing a gold glover in Teixeira at first base would hurt, they could probably get by just fine with Headley there. But if Chase were the regular third baseman, and he were replaced there by Alex Rodriguez, then that would be a much bigger problem. Basically, the defense would go down a little at first base, and would go down a lot at third.
So what do they do to combat that? Play Alex Rodriguez at first base regularly, while Mark Teixeira is the primary designated hitter.
In this scenario, if Mark Teixeira gets a mosquito bite doing the game and needs to take the rest of the night off, you can do so many things, as anybody can DH. And say Alex Rodriguez gets hurt, then just move Tex to 1B. Of course, assuming Tex started the game as the DH, then a pitcher is going to have to hit as you lose the DH when he changes positions. That's not a good thing, but chances are that move wouldn't happen until later in the game when you can pinch-hit for a reliever when that spot in the lineup comes up.
You can't avoid an offensive hit, but with ARod at 1B and Tex at DH you simplify things, and the defensive hit is minimized.
Let's look at things another way...
Alex Rodriguez is not the poster child for great health. In 2011 he missed 39 games for his right knee, missed 36 games due to fracturing his left hand in 2012, and of course had hip surgery in 2013. But he hasn't had any further problems with his right knee, his left hand recovered just fine from the fracture, and he just spent the entire 2014 season resting and recovering from that hip surgery. At this point, ARod should be fairly healthy.
On the other hand you have Mark Teixeira. In 2013 Mark missed 147 games due to tearing a tendon sheath in his right wrist, and has had problems with that wrist since (including missing 5 games this past season). On top of that, this past season, he had to go on the 15-day disabled list because of straining his right hamstring. Furthermore, this past season, he missed time due to issues involving his left wrist, fingers of his left hand, back, trunk, and groin.
The bottom line is that Mark Teixeira is a much bigger question mark, as far as health, than Alex Rodriguez. Because of that, it might be a good idea to make it a goal that Alex becomes the regular first baseman, while Tex becomes the regular DH.
"I know... I know... I have to stay healthy and play right field regularly."
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Teixeira: I Can't Play Through the Injuries Anymore
If you've watched any Yankees games this season, you already know that team First Basemen Mark Teixeira has struggled to stay healthy.
The veteran infielder, who missed nearly all of 2013 with a wrist injury, has spent a couple of weeks on the DL and missed the club's last eight games this year, an occurance that's hurt the defense due Brian McCann's inability to play his position.
Still, Teixeira can't hide the fact that he may be getting old, telling CBS New York earlier today that while he could compete through the pain when he was younger he simply can't now.
“I was injured plenty, I just played through it,” Teixeira said. “I can’t play through (the injuries) anymore. That’s just the fact of the matter. The guys ask me, ‘How did you play in Texas for five years, 100 degrees every night?’ I was young. I was a kid. I played through everything.”
Be that as it may, since the 34-year-old is owed $45 million over the next two seasons he does have to find a way to stay on the field more often, as it's been made clear over the last week that McCann isn't a reliable backup.
For example, in yesterday's first inning #34 let a routine groundball get into right field, something Teixeira probably wouldn't have done if had he been there.
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