| Andrew Perna. 17th April, 2010 - 11:38 am
 You don't have to live in the greater Boston area to hear about the monumental struggles of Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who's downfall has once again made national news with talking heads debating whether or not his career is over (yet again).
On the other side of baseball's greatest rivalry, Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira is struggling just as badly (if not worse).
However, outcries of Armageddon aren't nearly as prevalent in New York and the rest of the Western world because the Maryland native has a long history of slow starts.
Through Thursday's action, Teixeira is hitting just .091 without a home run and four RBIs in nine games.
Conversely, Ortiz is hitting .154 with no homers and two RBIs in seven games.
The difference? A host of things, including but not limited to, New York's 6-3 record, Teixeira's history of getting hot when the weather does and age difference.
Through his first nine games in 2009, his first year with the Yankees, Teixeira hit .194 with an on-base plus slugging of .881. He had also clubbed three home runs and posted six RBIs with seven strikeouts and six walks.
This year, his OPS is just .424 and he's struck out nine times to go with 10 walks.
Teixeira's struggles have been somewhat hidden by New York's success. The Yankees have taken each of their first three series (against three playoff clubs in Boston, Minnesota and Los Angeles) as Robinson Cano (.395/1.216), Jorge Posada (.345/1.147) and newcomer Curtis Granderson (.333/1.024) have excelled.
His history of slow starts is well-documented, but his struggles this April are his most drastic.
Here are his career numbers through nine games:
Season ? Avg, OPS
2010 - .091/.424
2009 - .194/.881
2008 - .167/.592
2007 - .250/.650
2006 - .364/.917
2005 - .200/.598
2004 - .242/.875
2003 - .125/.450
Nine games isn't a huge sample size, but his 33 at-bats this season represent more than 5% of the 609 he recorded in New York's championship season of 2009. The lineup has looked a little different without Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, but aside from the two-hole the Yankees' batting order hasn't suffered a bit.
Joe Girardi has used Nick Johnson (eight times) and Nick Swisher (once) ahead of Teixeira in the order.
If the Yankees start to struggle, perhaps we'll hear more than just a few boos at Yankee Stadium in regards to Teixeira's struggles. Assuming he hovers around .300 over the season's remaining five months, the first baseman will likely finish 2010 with numbers around his recent averages.
It's hard to imagine, though, just how eye-popping his numbers would be at the end of the season if it didn't take him so long to get warmed up. |
