The New York Yankees are currently sitting atop the American League East with a record of 28-25. How are they doing that exactly? Well, the fact that the rest of the teams in the division have been rather poor is definitely one reason. The Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox have all been .500 caliber teams or worse thus far this season.
Then there’s the incredible, improbable resurgence of first baseman Mark Teixeira continued Monday night when he hit a grand slam off of Seattle Mariners’ King Felix Hernandez, who is widely considered the best pitcher in all of baseball.
The last all star caliber season Teixeira has had was in 2011 when he hit .248/.341/.494 with 39 home runs and drove in 111 runs in 156 games. That was his third year in pinstripes. Since then, he’s had trouble staying on the field because of injuries, and his productivity has declined when he’s been on the field. He was a shell of his former self, and it was almost a given that he would never be the same hitter he once was, especially at the age of 35.
Then there was this season. Going into 2015, you can say he was one of the least stable players on an unpredictable New York Yankees roster. He was pretty much being written off as a player who had a very good career, but that it was probably close to being over for the old Mark Teixeira. What’s your take now? So far this season, he’s reminding everyone why he was a borderline all star for as long as he was, hitting .241/.359/.565, with 15 home runs, 40 runs batted in, and has struck out just 28 times in 50 games. That is beyond mind blowing. If he can play a full season, which is a major if, but you can’t assume injury, he’s on pace to hit 40 home runs, something he’s done only once in his career. He’s also on pace to knock in around 120 runs, which he hasn’t done since 2009. He is on pace to have an Earth-shattering type of season, and nobody in their right minds could’ve predicted that this is the kind of season that Teixeira would ever have again.
This is definitely a pleasant surprise, and he’s becoming one sure thing on a Yankees team that desperately needs one. There are too many “ifs” on this team for them to be considered legitimate, but if Mark Teixeira can continue to stay healthy and hit like this, he could help carry the Yankees into the postseason. They haven’t been to the postseason in over two years.
