Et tu, Tex?

I’m hoping this post serves more as a reverse jinx than anything else, because ever since I wrote “El Crapitan” Jeter has been on fire. He’s hitting .367/.419/.519/.938 and went hitless just twice in 19 games since I wrote that piece, so maybe I have some sort of NoMass-ian ability to turn it around for players.

Mark Teixeira is not having one of his finer seasons. I know we’re only 1/3 of the way through but Marky Mark is hitting .211/.326/.363/.689 with eight homers and 34 RBI for an OPS+ of 89. His line is way down from his career .286/.376/.535/.911 and his HR pace is for 24, which would be the worst of his career (two less than his rookie season of 2003). He is on pace for about 102 RBI, which is solid, but hitting third in the Yankees lineup he should have many many more.

To make matters worse, he is having a terrible June. I understand the team has played just six games so far in the month, but look at what he’s done (or lack thereof). Tex is 0 for his last 10 with five strikeouts and is 3-for-24 (.125/.222/.167/.389) with 0 RBI and eight Ks overall in June. He had a solid May after a shitty April, but his June is just atrocious (again SSS, but still).

Another interesting stat (courtesy of Mark Feinsand of @bloggingbombers on twitter): Teixeira put up a .339/.406/.629/1.035 line with five homers and 20 RBI in 62 at-bats from May 1-16 compared to a .188/.293/.263/.556 line with one homer and five RBI in 80 at-bats from May 17-June 6. Chew on that for a while.

What’s more baffling is that it seems he hits righty slightly better than he hits lefty, which might mean that the ball he fouled off his left foot earlier this season is more serious than he’s letting on. I’m not sure if I buy that, but it could be something. However, I wouldn’t be shocked to find out the team/he is hiding some sort of injury. It would explain a lot.

Worst case scenario: Tex has something else weighing on his mind…like his name getting mentioned in connection with a certain Canadian doctor. I pray that that’s not the case, but in this day and age you never know. Galea did treat some athletes in New York. Just saying is all.

So what can you do with a slugger that’s not slugging, especially when he’s pulling in $20,625,000 this season? My suggestion would be to switch Tex and Cano in the lineup so that the order would look something like this:

1. Jeet
2. Swish Dog
3. Cano
4. A-Rod
5. Tex
6. Georgie
7. Grandy
8. Cervelli
9. Gardy

With the move it’s not like Girardi would be dropping a prolific hitter to the eighth spot (looking at you, Joe Torre), so I don’t think it would mess with Tex’ head too much. Though there’s always the argument that less protection is never good for a struggling hitter. Regardless, if Tex doesn’t start to produce I’d like to see a change made.

However, it might take a long time for something like this to come to fruition, as Girardi has said Tex’ struggles will “have to go a lot longer than this” for a move to be made. He’s also quoted as saying “he’s our number three hitter. We haven’t talked about changing anything.”

Oh well. After finishing up this post we can just sit back and wait for the reverse jinx to kick in. Don’t be surprised is Mark Charles Teixeira hits for the cycle on Tuesday.

You’re welcome.