Tex Hopes To Avoid A Slow Start In 2010

Nobody was happy with Mark Teixeira's slow start last year, especially Teixeira himself. This year, he's hoping to put all that slow starter stuff behind him. Here's some more from Mark Feinsand:

“I have not accepted the fact that I’m a slow starter,” Teixeira said. “I’ve always said that baseball is a game filled with people that have been humbled or are about to be humbled. Every April, I get humbled, and that allows me to lock in, concentrate and have an exceptional rest of the season. Whether that’s by design or is a complete coincidence, I don’t know, but when I struggle in April, it makes me work harder and concentrate more.”

Teixeira is working with hitting coach Kevin Long to get both his left- and right-handed swings in shape for the season, though he said his lefty swing is “way behind” his righty swing at the moment.

“Being a switch-hitter makes it so tough,” he said. “If I could come to spring training and work on one swing every single day, I think I’d be all right. Going to spring training having to worry about two swings - and being a power hitter that relies on timing, it’s tough. I’m never going to use it as an excuse, but me and Kevin Long are working on things to make it better.”

...

“One thing I always find is that early in a season, you’re trying to find your strike zone and your timing, so you may be less aggressive,” Teixeira said. “Instead of going 1-for-4 with a home run - which would be a good day - I’m 1-for-4 with a single, and all of a sudden it’s the end of April, I’m hitting .250 with three homers and people ask, ‘What’s wrong with you?’”

Let's now take a look at his April (and some March) stats from Tex:

• 2003: .188/.288/.344
• 2004: .276/.432/.552
• 2005: .262/.321/.485
• 2006: .293/.391/.495
• 2007: .231/.346/.341
• 2008: .273/.333/.464
• 2009: .200/.367/.371

That all adds up to a hitting line of .249/.349/.433 over 148 games, basically a full season. And as you can see, last year was his worst start to a season since his rookie year in '03. Obviously, some of that can be chalked up to nerves about playing in New York and being with a new team. The fact that the media and even Brian Cashman talked about him being a slow starter couldn't have helped. But it wasn't just last year, historically he's usually not himself until the weather starts to heat up.

I don't see this as a major issue for the team, though. They survived last year's start even without A-Rod in the lineup, and, while I hope it doesn't happen again, I'm sure they can handle another Teixeira slow start this year.