Mark Teixeira said earlier this week that doctors told him he would likely miss roughly seven days because of the severe bone bruised suffered when he fouled a ball off the top of his right shin. He missed exactly that, seven days, before returning to the lineup on Tuesday.
But he clearly wasn’t 100 percent healthy then, and he’s not 100 percent healthy now.
Out of the lineup again tonight, Teixeira told reporters in Atlanta that he expects to go for additional tests to make sure there’s not something more severe going on in his leg. The Yankees initially suspected he might have broken his leg, but initial tests found no fracture.
Because Greg Bird was on the roster to play first base, and because Teixeira was supposed to miss only a week, the Yankees did not put him on the 15-day disabled list. However, it’s now been 11 days, and Teixeira’s been able to start only once. I’m not sure carrying a short bench has significantly impacted the Yankees this past week — they’ve played short-handed, but I can’t say there was a moment when it significantly hurt them — that said, if they’d known it was going to take this long, I’m sure the Yankees would have preferred to just put Teixeira on the DL.
Now, a possible disabled list stint — if that’s deemed necessary — would force Teixeira to miss the next two weeks. The Yankees might instead prefer to stick with a short bench for the next three days, supplement when rosters expand on Tuesday, and hope Teixeira can return sooner than mid-September.
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• Jacoby Ellsbury is in the Yankees’ lineup for the moment, but Joe Girardi said that could change before first pitch. Have to assume Ellsbury will go through the usual pregame routine, and if his sore right hip isn’t strong enough to play, he’ll have to go to the bench. Ellsbury said he expects to play, but acknowledged there is still some swelling.
• If Ellsbury can’t play, that leaves the Yankees’ with a three-man bench in a National Leagues series. That’s not ideal. They would presumably have to put Chris Young in the outfield, leaving Alex Rodriguez (who can’t play the field), John Ryan Murphy (who could probably play an infield corner in an absolute pinch), and Brendan Ryan (who can play basically anywhere).
• Girardi joked that he might have a pitcher pinch run. At least, I assume he was joking. Is Nathan Eovaldi or Ivan Nova really a better base running option than Rodriguez or Carlos Beltran or Brian McCann?
• Little surprise that Rodriguez isn’t in the lineup. He’s hardly played the field this season and there’s little reason to expect him to be anything but a pinch hitter this weekend. Days off in National League parks seem to have helped Rodriguez previously this season.
• Chris Capuano has officially cleared waivers and — yet again — been outrighted to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Indications are the Yankees would like to have Capuano make a start or two, knock some rust off, and likely rejoin the team sometime in September.
• After sitting out both games of a doubleheader yesterday, Rob Refsnyder is back in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lineup tonight. He’s playing second base. Dustin Ackley is starting in left field with Jose Pirela getting a turn in right.
Associated Press photos
The post Pregame notes: Teixeira going for additional tests on sore right leg appeared first on The LoHud Yankees Blog.
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