The 5 Most Important Yankees In September

Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

#1. Mark Teixeira

The anchor of the Yankees’ infield, Tex has only played in 105 games this season, and his batting average is the lowest of his career for a full season of more than 350 at-bats. Even so, he leads the Yankees in home runs (21) and is second in runs batted in (56), trailing only Jacoby Ellsbury. The switch-hitting 34-year-old has battled leg and wrist issues all season long. As the heart and soul of the Yankees’ run-producing part of the lineup, Tex, like Beltran, needs to put the rest of his team on his back and have a monstrous September.

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Teixeira is coming off of a slow August, a month in which he only went yard twice, but he already has half that amount in September with a home run against Boston earlier in the week. Historically an extremely slow starter, the Yankees need him to be a force in the middle of the lineup for the next three weeks and beyond if the Bombers’ season is going to continue into the Fall. Tex is about as healthy as he’s been all season, and should be rounding into shape with only about a half of a season’s worth of at-bats under his belt. A full season projection would have him hitting over 40 home runs and 112 or so runs driven in. If Teixeira heats up in September, it could go a long ways towards propelling an anemic offense to winning some key games and series in September against the likes of Boston, Baltimore, Toronto, and Tampa.