Empire Writes Back
Fansided

New York Yankees News: Mark Teixeira Expected To Miss At Least Two Weeks

By Kenneth Teape

facebooktwitterreddit

The New York Yankees will be without a big piece to their puzzle for the foreseeable future, as first baseman Mark Teixeira remains sidelined. Teixeira will be out at least another two weeks, as the deep bone bruise in his right shin just is not healing as the team had hoped.

Teixeira originally injured the shin August 17th against the Minnesota Twins when he fouled a ball off his lower leg. He would sit out until August 25th, when he started against the Houston Astros, but with the Yankees being blown out he was relieved later in the game. He was then out of the lineup the next day, appearing as a pinch hitter. He has been out since, and will now continue to be out.

Also On Empire Writes Back: Where Are The Yankees In This Week’s Power Rankings?

Teixeira was sent back to New York for tests earlier this week, and no new structural damage was found. But, the doctors did conclude that if the injury is to heal, Teixeira needs to be off of it. That is why he will be on crutches for the time being.

This is a worst case scenario for the Yankees, as there is a chance that Teixeira does not return to the Yankees lineup this season. “His bone bruise has not healed in any way, shape or form. He blasted it, obviously, extremely good … it’s taking a hell of a lot longer than we would have expected,” said general manager Brian Cashman.

More from New York Yankees

This injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Yankees, as they are trying to keep up with the red hot Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays have been rolling since the trade deadline, when they acquired superstars in Troy Tulowitzki and David Price to go along with solid role players in Ben Revere, Mark Lowe and LaTroy Hawkins. While their offense just continues to pound opposing pitchers, the Yankees will be without arguably their best hitter for the foreseeable future.

Teixeira has been a force in the middle of the lineup for the Yankees all season. Despite not playing much in the last two weeks, Teixeira still leads the team with 31 home runs and his 79 RBI place him second behind only Brian McCann, who lit up his former team in the Atlanta Braves over the weekend to overtake Teixeira for the team lead.

In his absence, Gregory Bird will continue manning first base. It seems like it is his job and his job only, as the Alex Rodriguez experiment looks to have been stopped. He doesn’t seem comfortable over there, and it seems like the Yankees are less and less comfortable with throwing him into the lineup there as well.

The Yankees are hoping that Rodriguez’s bat can get back on track, because they are going to need it to keep pace with the Blue Jays. It would be unfair to rely on Bird to replace Teixeira solely, as the rookie is getting his first taste of the major leagues right now.

More on Empire Writes Back: Who is the great Yankee of all-time?

The Yankees are currently five games ahead in the Wild Card race, which is a pretty comfortable margin given the teams chasing them. But, that is a lead that would look much better had Teixeira been able to play. Without him, the Yankees are not as scary as a team, and will need other players to step up to replicate his production.

Next: 5 Yankees Who Need To Step Up In September

More from Empire Writes Back

[subscribe

Home/New York Yankees