Bad News For Tex

Bad news for the Yankees, I guess. Looks like Tex is done for the season, and his disappointing run in New York continues.

Updated on Tex, Youk, and Tonight's Game

Here's an update on both injured Yankees via Bryan Hoch:

The Yankees placed first baseman Mark Teixeira on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with inflammation in his right wrist, and are hopeful that the minimum 15 days will be enough for Teixeira to calm his wrist down. He said that it affects him most when hitting left-handed, and that allowing it time to heal should help him regain his mechanics.

New York recalled outfielder Zoilo Almonte and right-hander Adam Warren from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in corresponding moves, while designating right-hander Chris Bootcheck for assignment.

Additionally, the Yankees received an unfortunate report from Kevin Youkilis’ doctor visit in California. Dr. Robert Watkins will perform surgery on Thursday to repair a herniated disc in Youkilis’ back; he is expected to miss 10-12 weeks, according to general manager Brian Cashman.

Just awful news on both counts. This season is getting ugly fast.

Speaking of ugly, this weather blows and has forced the Yankees to postpone tonight's game. It will be made up tomorrow afternoon as part of a day-night, separate admission doubleheader tomorrow. For some more information on Yankees vs Dodgers tickets, read this post from earlier today.

Tex Could Begin Rehab Assignment on Tuesday

Updates on Tex and Granderson

From D.J. Short:

While Curtis Granderson threw today for this first time since his broken right forearm, another big bat in the Yankees’ lineup is inching closer to a return.

According to the Associated Press, Mark Teixeira hopes to be cleared to take “dry swings” tomorrow following a visit to hand and wrist specialist Dr. Melvin Rosenwasser. The 33-year-old has been sidelined since early March with a partially torn tendon sheath in his right wrist, but he said today that he feels “no pain” and “could not be happier with the progress.”

Tex is planning on going from dry swings to hitting soft tosses in the next week or so. After that, he'll start hitting against live pitching.

Injury Updates: Jeter, Tex, Granderson, Hughes, Nunez,

Jon Heyman is reporting that Derek Jeter, Mark Texieira and Curtis Granderson could all be back by May 1st:

Yankees people are mentioning May 1 as potentially the key date in their season. The team's medical people are suggesting, at least in behind-the-scenes conversations, that May 1 could be a target date for the return of three of their missing stars: Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson.

May 1 might be optimistic, and a Yankees person suggested that date may assume no more setbacks. Jeter still needs to go through several steps before he can return, starting with taking grounders. The first time he began taking grounders this spring it was still a few weeks before he appeared in a spring game. Understandably, the Yankees plan to proceed cautiously with their iconic shortstop. He is eligible to come off the disabled list Saturday, as they had hoped he could make it back by the end of the first week of the season even after opening day was ruled out.

The way things are going with this team, I wouldn't be surprised if all three were not on the field for that Astros series, but keep your fingers crossed.

As for Eduardo Nunez, he may be sidelined for a little while after getting him on the arm in yesterday's game:

This is how Eduardo Nunez’s day ended at Comerica Park yesterday.

As his teammates filed out of the visiting clubhouse after their 8-3 loss to the Tigers, the Yankees shortstop struggled to put on his jacket. Finally, after several frustrating tries, catcher Chris Stewart had to come over and help Nunez slide his aching right arm into the sleeve of his coat.

It’s bad enough when older Yankees are injured, but it’s really bad when young Yankees get hurt. Nunez was hit in the right biceps by an 88-mph fastball from Tigers starter Doug Fister in the fourth inning and Nunez fell to the ground in terrible pain. He eventually had to be helped off the field. X-rays were negative and the injury is being labeled a bruise.

“I was scared, I thought it was broken, I felt pain all down my arm,’’ Nunez said. “The pain was so bad. I felt much better when I heard the X-rays were negative, and now we’ll see how it feels.’’

Nunez said he does not expect to be sidelined long, but considering the trouble he had putting on his jacket, don’t expect him to play today against the Tigers.

Finally, some actual decent news, Phil Hughes will be activated today:

Phil Hughes will be activated from the disabled list this afternoon. It’s one of those rare moments when a player coming off the DL earlier than expected isn’t necessarily good news. It’s not necessarily bad news – Hughes is healthy, was just expected to get one more tune up — but the move has more to do with an overworked pitching staff than overwhelmingly dominant pitcher.

Teixeira Won't Rush Back From Wrist Injury

From Peter Botte:

Mark Teixeira returned to Yankees camp on Sunday after injuring his right wrist nearly two weeks ago while with Team USA before the start of the World Baseball Classic.

Teixeira clarified that the injury is to his tendon sheath, and not the tendon, as previously reported. After missing most of September last season because he returned too early from a calf injury, Teixeira also said he won’t rush back to the injury-riddled Yankees before he’s fully healthy.

“This is one of those things I can’t come back too early. We saw when I tried to play too early last year what happened,” Teixeira said. “If I play too early, I could miss the whole season, and we don’t want that.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be middle of May, beginning of May, beginning of June. I don’t know when it is, but I know there’s a whole bunch of season left and the time that really matters is the playoffs. We have guys who can pick me up when I’m gone, guys who can pick Curtis (Granderson) up when he’s gone. I think Curtis and I will be back around the same time and that’ll be a big boost for the club.”

At this point, I expect the June date is much more likely. Tex also didn't want to blame the WBC for his "freak injury":

“It has nothing to do with the WBC,” he said. “It would be one thing if we weren’t playing games. We started playing games on the 23rd of February. February 23rd, think about it.”

“So we’re playing games,” Teixeira added. “It doesn’t matter if you’re WBC, doesn’t matter if you’re spring training, I was hitting off a tee. It was a freak injury. If nobody was playing baseball and we decided to show up in January or February and start playing nine inning games, then people would say, ‘OK, what is this WBC?’ but we’re playing games.”

The bottom line is--and we knew this already--others will need to step up while he and Granderson are out.

Update: Tex Out 8-10 Weeks

Here's the update from Matt Snyder:

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira will miss 8-10 weeks with a strained right wrist, manager Joe Girardi told reporters in spring training Wednesday.

There's no tear and the tendon is stable, but Teixeira needs four weeks off and then at least four weeks of rehab.

Teixeira injured his forearm during batting practice with Team USA, as noted Tuesday by CBSSports.com senior writer Danny Knobler. And this seems to be some kind of freak accident that happened during that batting practice session.

Another tough break for the Yanks, who will now be without their starting 1B for opening day.

Teixeira Feeling Good About the Team and His Health

From Mark Feinsand:

"I really feel good about our team this year," Teixeira said. "It's actually fun when everyone else counts you out because it kind of makes guys want it a little bit more. Every year we want it, but this year especially, it's going to be even more of a challenge. I think that's going to make it more exciting as the year goes on."

...

"All you hear about is the Blue Jays; that's good," Teixeira said. "They had a heck of an offseason and it's a very good team. We have five quality teams in our division. It used to be that you had to worry about maybe one or two teams and you hoped to win two out of three or sweep the bottom teams. That's not going to happen this year. Every single game in our division is going to be tough."

Tex seems to like embracing the Yankees "underdog" status, after all he did the same thing in Spring Training of 2011. That said, this time around they really are underdogs, which is surprising and sad considering they're going to outspend 28 out of the 29 other teams in baseball. Moving on...

Teixeira has been working out for several weeks, getting himself ready to play for Joe Torre's Team USA in next month's World Baseball Classic. After missing 39 of the final 43 games last season with a calf injury, Teixeira tried to alter his offseason program to give him the best chance of staying healthy.

"Nothing real major, just being smarter about certain things," said Teixeira, who cut back on the amount of weightlifting he does. "When you have a season where you get injured with the calf, it's 'Why did I get injured?' Really addressing those type of things, I had a great offseason. I feel really good and I'm excited about spring training starting."

...

"There's really no reason for me at this point in my career to try to start doing things differently," Teixeira said. "I've had such a successful career playing to my strengths. Now that being said, I want to be the best at what I do well, and that's hitting home runs, driving in runs and playing Gold Glove defense. I know if I do those three things I'm going to help my team win because at the end of the day that's why I'm here.”

One problem that Tex seems to have as a Yankees is that he's far too pull happy, and I'd like to see he had said he's going to try and use the whole feels more often as opposed to "hitting home runs". If he continues to want to do nothing but pull the ball I think we're looking at another .250 year for Tex.

Anyway, if you're feeling like Teixeira and want to buy Yankees tickets, check out TiqIQ.com.

Anyone else think it's stupid for Pettitte to pitch in the WBC?

From Anthony McCarron:

Andy Pettitte and Mark Teixeira, two Yankees who endured injury problems last season, are scheduled to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic in March, a source with knowledge of the roster confirmed Monday.

...

If a club does not want a player to participate because of injury, it can submit what’s called a “player objection notice” to the WBC’s disability review committee, which could rule on the objection. But with both Pettitte and Teixeira on track to be ready for spring training next month and both wanting to play, it’s not like the Yankees can prevent their participation.

I can understand letting Teixeira play. He's a notorious slow-starter and maybe a few competitive games prior to the season will do him some good. However, letting a 40-year-old Andy Pettitte, pitch in meaningless exhibition games masquerading as an important international competition is a joke.

Teixeira Expected Back Tonight

From Chad Jennings:

The Yankees expect Mark Teixeira to be in the lineup and playing first base tomorrow. After playing in an instructional league game yesterday, Teixeira will go through a normal workout today and rejoin the Yankees when they get home for this final three-game series against the Red Sox.

It will be Teixeira’s first game since aggravating his strained calf injury on September 8, and only his second game since originally hurting himself on August 27. His injury through the month of September, and Alex Rodriguez’s injury through the month of August means it’s been a long time since the Yankees have consistently had two of their middle-of-the-order bats in the lineup at the same time.

“Obviously two middle-of-the-order hitters, number one,” Girardi said. “But two, it gives you the ability not to stack left handers, which is something that we’ve had to fight and at times we’ve been vulnerable to that. It seemed like everyone was throwing left handers against us, and Tex is a huge bat against left handers. It’s affected us.”

The Yankees face two right handers (Buchholz and Matsuzaka) and one lefty (Lester) in this final series against the Red Sox.

Besides the injury to Mariano, everyone else is now back in the fold so finally, after several months of dealing with various players going down, the Yankees are pretty much at full strength. Hallelujah!

Teixeira Played in Simulated Game on Thursday

From George King:

Because running is considered the biggest test for a lcalf problem, the news was positive Thursday out of Tampa where Mark Teixeira participated in a simulated game.

“He looked good, he ran about 75 to 80 percent,” said minor league head Mark Newman, who watched the workout. “He swung the bat well, hit some line drives.’’

According to manager Joe Girardi, Teixeira played an inning at first base but running will dictate when he returns.

“To me, the biggest test is running the bases,’’ Girardi said before the Yankees' 6-0 loss to the Blue Jays. “I think he can protect it a little bit in the field if he has to. Sometimes you get in a situation like he was in Baltimore and your mind tells you, ‘I got to go.’ ”

...

Girardi said Teixeira would play in another simulated game but wasn’t sure if it would be Friday or Saturday. While it’s likely he could join the Yankees during the four-game series against the Blue Jays, it’s more likely he will be back with the club Monday when the Yankees open a three-game series with the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

”You would like to know that he is 100 percent,’’ Girardi said. “But I don’t think you are going to know until you get into an intense situation.’’

I wouldn't push things, especially with those games on the Tampa turf coming up. Save him for the Boston series and hope those three games are enough to get his timing back.

Tex Out 10-14 With Calf Injury, Yanks Call Up Melky Mesa

Teixeira Headed for MRI on Monday

From Bryan Hoch:

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira is scheduled to have a MRI on his ailing left calf Monday in New York and probably won’t be available to play in this week’s series against the Red Sox, manager Joe Girardi said.

Teixeira reaggravated his calf strain on the ninth-inning dive into first base on Saturday against the Orioles. The Yankees are hopeful that Teixeira isn’t back to the original level of injury and that a few days of rest might get him back into the lineup, but they’ll know more after the MRI.

Girardi admitted that there is concern that Teixeira could be out for the rest of the season.

“There’s part of me that wonders that,” Girardi said. “There’s basically three and a half weeks, and if it does go back to square one, then I really wonder.”

At this point I'm really starting to believe that all these injuries will just be too much for this team to overcome. I hope I'm wrong, but nothing that has happened since the All-Star break gives me much confidence.

Injury Updates: Tex, Pettitte, Nova

- To make that blown call on the final play of last night's game worse, Mark Teixeira re-injured his left calf and will likely miss Sunday's series finale against the O's.

- In better news, Andy Pettitte threw a simulated game on Saturday and apparently everything went smoothly. Here's a little more on Pettitte from Dan Martin:

“I felt good, it was a good day,” Pettitte said after the session. “It was another step in the right direction. I am trying to push it as far as I can with feeling a chance of injury.”

Pettitte is expected to have the ankle examined tomorrow in New York and could be cleared to run, which is one of the final hurdles he must clear before he rejoins a beaten-up rotation.

Barring a setback, the lefty would be able to field bunts and cover first base the next time he takes the mound, which should be in Boston this week. That session should last roughly 60 pitches and may be his final rehab appearance

- Ivan Nova came off the DL last night and instead of being inserted into the rotation the Yankees decided to to put him in the bullpen.

“He is in the bullpen for now. Our bullpen has been used a lot,’’ said Joe Girardi, who as of Friday had not made a decision on who would start today. “We will put him down there for now and then we will make some decisions.’’

Asked if Nova was a candidate to take David Phelps’ start Wednesday in Boston, Girardi danced.

“We are not that far ahead,’’ Girardi said. “With these tricky weather conditions, I am not sure what we are going to need.’’

But at some point, Nova is going to start.

“We have always considered him a rotation guy,’’ Girardi said. “He is not a guy who has pitched out of the bullpen a lot. Our concern was to get him back healthy.” I had the rotation set — that’s Freddy. We didn’t know what we were going to have in Nova.’

Personally, I'd much rather see Nova get back into the rotation over Freddy, but the Yankees seem to like to make bad moves all of a sudden.

Updates on Tex & Granderson

From Pete Caldera:

Mark Teixeira (sore left calf) was due to take BP on the field for the first time in a week and said he’s targeting Thursday’s series opener at Baltimore for his return.

Curtis Granderson (tight right hamstring) could be in the lineup tomorrow night, according to manager Joe Girardi.

With the lead down to one, it's pretty obvious that all these injuries finally caught up with the team. Getting these guys back should help, but with the way they've been playing (with or without them) let's just hope it's not too little too late.

Updates on A-Rod, Tex & Pettitte

I know most of this news is a day old, but I've had a very busy week, so sorry for the delay.

- Mark Teixeira will likely be out 1-2 weeks with his calf injury reports Mark Feinsand.

On to better news, Andy Pettitte threw off flat ground for the first time since his ankle injury:

Andy Pettitte could be throwing off a mound before the end of the week. The lefthander took a significant step in his return from a fractured left ankle when he threw off flat ground Tuesday before the Yankees beat the Blue Jays at the Stadium. Joe Girardi said Pettitte threw three sets of 20 pitches and tested himself during the last one.

“For two of the sessions, he did not push off much,” Girardi said. “In the last session, he basically did 10 or 12 pitches where it was his normal windup. He actually looked really good.”

... After Tuesday’s session, Girardi said of Pettitte’s next move “our hope is it’s a mound, a bullpen. We’ll have to see how he feels in the next couple days.”

He said that would likely occur Friday or Saturday.

Alex Rodriguez also took a major step in his rehab:

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez took live batting practice on Tuesday afternoon, the first time he's done so since fracturing his left hand on July 24 against the Seattle Mariners.

General manager Brian Cashman said on ESPN NewYork 98.7's "The Michael Kay Show" that if everything goes well, Rodriguez could begin a minor league rehab stint over the weekend. Cashman added that he believes A-Rod can be back earlier than mid-September, but also didn't want to put a firm date on it.

"So far, so good," Rodriguez said. "My legs are coming under me, and I see light at the end of the tunnel. My expectation is to come back at full strength and help this team win."

So despite the two losses to the Jays, not all is bad in Yankeeland.

Teixeira Leaves Game With Calf Injury

Mark Teixeira had to leave tonight’s game in the top of the fifth inning with a left calf strain. He’s headed for an MRI to check the extent of the injury. If there are any updates I will let you know. Hopefully it's nothing too serious. Haven't we dealt with enough of this crap already?

Updates on A-Rod, Pettitte & Tex

From Bryan Hoch:

The Yankees received encouraging news on Sunday regarding Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte, who are both progressing toward September returns from the disabled list.

A-Rod and Pettitte had X-rays performed on their fractured left hand and fractured left fibula, respectively, and team doctors told the players that their injuries are healing as expected.

"Everything is as scheduled," said Rodriguez, who was hit by a Felix Hernandez pitch on July 24 in Seattle. "We talked about four to six weeks at the beginning, and I think Tuesday is the four-week mark. We're right on schedule."

Rodriguez said that he will spend the next few days strengthening and expects to be re-evaluated during Thursday's off-day between series at Chicago and Cleveland. He has been keeping his arm in shape, throwing both baseballs and footballs often.

...

Pettitte returned from that Seattle trip having been told that he pushed himself too hard, hoping to accelerate his recovery from a June 27 broken ankle, but that swelling has subsided and doctors are closer to permitting him to resume pitching on a mound.

"Everything looks good -- it's healing up," Pettitte said. "Obviously, like I told you all before, I'm excited when they tell me, 'OK you can go on the mound and see how it feels.'

"But I've got to get on flat ground. I'll do that on this road trip, and hopefully after this road trip, it'll all be good. I'm hoping maybe right when we get back from this road trip, I might be able to get back on a mound."

Hoch also reported that Mark Teixeira expects to return to the lineup tonight in Chicago, saying on Sunday "That's the goal. I could probably push it today, but we don't want any setbacks. We don't want anything to get inflamed again. So we're going to take it easy today."

All good news. With the way the Yanks have been playing the idea of getting these three back for the stretch run should put a smile on every Yankees fan's face.

I'll Say It...I'm sick of Teixeira

I remember a time when I was younger and I would have such blind faith in every athlete that donned the Yankee uniform. When a player struggled mightily, I cheered that much harder for him to do well. I’m 27 now (I know, still young) but Mark Teixeira is very slowly turning himself into a very unlikeable ballplayer. For their money, the New York Yankees have gotten one elite year out of “Tex.” The version that we have seen from 2010 until now, is not the version that the Yankees signed up for. This version is certainly not worth over $20Million a year.

Now, it is unfair to expect the type of half seasons he put up with the Atlanta Braves & Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim if you hit Pasadena you’ve gone too far. Personally, I was expecting closer to the numbers he put up with while he was with Texas. Although, the 2008 he had with Atlanta would fall under that umbrella, as well. This version of Teixeira refuses to make the necessary adjustments to return to elite form. Now, we are all succumbed to a hitter that will either hit a homer, groundout to second, or pop-out weakly to the infield. We’ve gone from seeing a hitter with a high 300 OBP to one that is maxing out mid-300. We’ve gone from a hitter whose OPS is in the high 800s-low 900s to low-mid 800. For the advanced statistic fans, he is 12th among Major League First Basemen in wRC+ and 7th among the ones in the American League. Basically, there are no statistics out there that can defend Tex’s lack of production.

Now, his severely underwhelming performance on the field aside, let’s talks about Tex and his constant excuses, shall we? How many times throughout the year did we hear about him feeling under the weather whenever he was struggling? Whether it was his wrist or his respiratory issue, there was always something handy. In 2004, Jason Giambi was diagnosed with a benign tumor to which he missed most of the season. He only played 80 games and we still heard no excuses about his lack of production. Players are sore, sick, and just feeling miserable all of the time. It is a long, brutal season yet Teixeira always feels the need to point out just how poorly he is feeling. Even if that was all true, man up and just deal with it. I am sick to death of the constant excuses from this guy. What are his excuses for the numbers he put up last year? How about in 2010?

If it isn’t some phantom physical ailment, another one is “Oh, he’s just a slow starter!” Interesting, if you look at the breakdown this year, he’s had one vintage Tex month. He’s not just a slow starter; he’s nothing special when he gets going either. Not this version anyway. Maybe if Tex would stop being so stubborn and adapt to the game that has clearly adapted to him, he could make this contract somewhat tolerable.

Twitter: @trevwolff

Teixeira May Sit For Boston Opener

From the NY Post:

General manager Brian Cashman, who admitted the wrist is bothering Teixeira, indicated the first baseman may not play Friday night when the Yankees open a three-game series with the Red Sox.

“He might get a rest, but no tests are scheduled,” the GM said. “It’s definitely not as bad as before, but it’s still bothering him. ... He’s icing it for maintenance purposes.”

No need to play with any kind of injury at this point, especially not against a 4th place team.