Monday, May 14, 2012
WHY TEIXEIRA IS D.O.A.
I'm not entirely sure why it's happening, but Mark Teixeira is lost as a New York Yankee hitter. I don't know if it's the stadium or the way teams like the Tampa Bay Rays are playing him, or maybe even just his feel of the bat or his mechanics at the plate. Something is truly off and I cannot put my finger on it.
Usually when things go south for hitter, like for instance when Curtis Granderson couldn't hit a lick or Nick Swisher was running into hitting problems, Kevin Long would spring into action and adjust these guys. Next thing you know, guys likeCurtis Granderson become overnight superstars. But, if Long's tweaking Tex right now, I'm not seeing a spark and I'm not sure why.
Mark Teixeira is a guy who for most of his career was hitting better than .280 a season. In fact, when he came over to the Yankees in 2009, he hit .292 with 39 homers and 122 RBIs. Suddenly after 2009, that average dipped, to .256 in 2010, to .248 in 2011 and right now, in 2012, Mark Teixeira is batting .221. What the hell is going on?
Now look, you can sit here and blab about how the Yankees were stupid to offer that kind of money to a guy like this and "what a waste" and it's a "killer contract", blah, blah, blah. The truth of the matter is no one knew this dip in average would happen, especially if you looked at his career numbers. I don't believe in bitching about contracts after the fact. Tex and his people were smart enough to work out the deal and the Yankees did what they thought was right at the time. We weren't there, and we can second guess it now, because it's easy. Sure, if Tex was batting .300 every year, no one would be talking about. They are and it's silly.
One thing we need right now is to figure out the Tex puzzle. Why can't he hit for average? Why has his slugging percentage dipped? Is it age? Is it mechanics? Am I overreacting? I did find it interesting that Mark Teixeira had an issue and was coughing since about April 12th. He was quoted in the New York Times, HEREsaying “I was worried. You don’t have a cough for a month without being worried.” Now, I'm not saying that this cough was the cause for his slow start this year, but I'm am definitely going to suggest, it might have been on his mind and contributed to his lack of hitting...maybe even a distraction thinking about a worst case "life" scenario, you know what I mean? It's speculation, but let's be honest, if you're thinking too much about one thing, you tend to let other things slide...just my own 2 cents. Let's hope that his cough gets fixed. After all, he's now on prednisone so he can rid his mind of bad thoughts, he can get out there to the plate and hopefully he can start his average climb.
I like Mark Teixeira, he's a talented guy and a great New York Yankee, but if this type hitting continues, you really need to wonder, do the Yankees need to think about a new first baseman? Let's hope not... let's hope Tex snaps out of it!
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