What's Going On With Tex?

Mark Teixeira is a slow starter and everyone, by now, knows it. He's a fantasy baseball killer in April and he certainly does no favors for the big league clubs he's played for in April either. So what's the deal with big Tex this year, why the hot start and should we expect this to continue?



At first I wondered if Sabathia had Tex hooked on the Captain and now that CC's kicked, so in turn has Tex (last Captain reference, I swear, but c'mon that's a weird habit no?) Anyway, that's not it, but something has Tex moving this April. Through 2 games, he's belted 2 bombs and has 6RBI's while posting a .333 batting average. Tex is notorious for slow starts and a quick check back through his career numbers getting a month to month break down (thanks SI.com) I found that for his career he's hit an awful .237 while swatting just 24 HR and 83 RBI's with a meager .414 slugging percentage through April. Ouch... that doesn't sound like the Tex that averages about $22.5 million dollars a season does it? (I know right, and that's not even the highest paid Yankee). The funny thing is that after April his career stats are unreal! In May his career numbers are 45 jacks, 167 RBI's while owning a .536 slugging percentage and he just gets better and better as the season progresses. Those numbers are nearly double his April stats, but again, why does he usually suck in April?

Teixeira once claimed it was because he was a switch hitter and had to practice 2 swings before the season began in turn taking twice as long to get himself ready for the season. A little digging (www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives4837) and we can see that it's not a trend at all among switch hitters to have slow starts. Turns out it's just big Tex. This year when asked about his hot start and what he changed (according to ESPN) he said he had always felt fatigued by the time the season began and this year he finally expressed it to his hitting coach. Basically Teixeira just took less cuts then he usually does while taking it slow this spring. That's it! That's the secret kids, just tell your coach you're a little tired and need to take it slow and wallah...

But seriously the change in Teixeira's April thus far is a huge plus for the Yankees. They will need all the offense they can get in an absolutely loaded AL East, especially with a shaky pitching staff. With Tex off and running out of the gate, who knows what kind of numbers this guy could put up if he continues his hot start through til May?