2012 Mark Teixeira Performance Thread

[AuroraBomberalis]

Paging Mark Teixeira... Mark Teixeira (3-30, 1 HR, 4 RBI), there's a black hole in the 5 slot in the order, we're wondering if you ever plan to do anything about it.



What happened to this guy? Seriously, what happened?

[35Knucklecurve]

Paging Mark Teixeira... Mark Teixeira (3-30, 1 HR, 4 RBI), there's a black hole in the 5 slot in the order, we're wondering if you ever plan to do anything about it.




What happened to this guy? Seriously, what happened?

Shift aside, I have no idea what the heck is going on. He shows a flash of his former self with a blast and then......it reminds me of the momentary power surge you get when the electricity comes back on after a storm, only to go off again. His comment made earlier that he'd rather be a HR hitter than one who "just makes contact" (or something to that affect) still bothers me. You can do some damage just making contact in the right situation. A SAC fly beats a K every time.

[Jax Teller]

I'd be fine with him being strictly a home run hitter if he had even a hint of on base skills.

.323? Awful.

[Mr.Muhozi]

What's the excuse now?

[rajah]

What's the excuse now?

What do you mean "excuse?" Surely, he is trying and working hard at getting on track.

I want to know what the "reason" is. But giving a reason is not making an excuse. Every effect has a cause and it is interesting to figure out what that cause is sometimes in sports. Saying Mark is now relatively "bad at hitting", or something like that, is not helpful or interesting. Neither is making some kind of moral judgment, which I assume you do not intend.

Do you have a reason? Or are you just venting?

[AuroraBomberalis]

For me, I honestly want to know what's wrong. I know that occasionally in the history of baseball a still-relatively-young player who's on a HOF track can just suddenly lose it. But as far as we know, Mark has no injuries, isn't suffering from any sort of physical issues, and aside from not being the most physically spry dude you've ever seen, he's in decent shape.

I didn't expect his numbers to rise at this age, but for him to drop off like this, something is fishy. I've already said enough about how much I think Kevin Long is useless for certain players on this team (A-Rod, Tex, Jeter, Cano), so I'm not going to harp on it too much, but I'd just love to see what some other coach could do with him. Maybe it's mechanical, maybe it's mental, but either way, it's obvious that this current coaching staff is unable to help this man in any way.

It's also possible that he's uncoachable, but he's never struck me as that stubborn of a guy when it comes to taking instruction or advice.

I'm at a loss. It's disheartening. If it was just this half a season I wouldn't be so concerned, but this steep decline has been going on for 4 years. Virtually any useful offensive metric has him dropping off every year since he joined the Yankees.

[snapple]

I'm still not worried. He gets hot in July.

[JL25and3]

I'm still not worried. He gets hot in July.

Hm. The line used to be that he didn't hit in April, but got hot in May. Now we're supposed to concede half a season before he can hit?

Besides, he didn't get hot in July last year. He's a different hitter than he used to be.

[Jax Teller]

Career .908 OPS in May & .881 in June.

He was supposed to "get hot" for two months now.

[snapple]

I prefer to have faith in players.

[Mr.Muhozi]

What do you mean "excuse?" Surely, he is trying and working hard at getting on track.

I want to know what the "reason" is. But giving a reason is not making an excuse. Every effect has a cause and it is interesting to figure out what that cause is sometimes in sports. Saying Mark is now relatively "bad at hitting", or something like that, is not helpful or interesting. Neither is making some kind of moral judgment, which I assume you do not intend.

Do you have a reason? Or are you just venting?

So I ask a facetious question and get given a lesson in morality.
Earlier in the year Tex was pretty bad but he was genuinely ill, that was the reason/excuse he was slumping.

Reason and excuse can be used interchangeably for this situation with Tex. Sure he could be trying. I don't doubt that at all. However he's doing the same thing, getting the same results without the will to change his approach. He gets a hot streak for a short period of time then goes back to slumping for an extended period of time. Each hot streak bringing new hope that he's finally going to be what we signed up for, each slump a reminder that this is what Tex has come.

I've been patient with Tex, but my hope has turned to resignation that the past 2 and a half seasons are the new Tex that we will have to live with. A shame as he has the ability to be so much more.

For reference just tweeted:

Mike Axisa ‏@mikeaxisa
At this point last year, Teixeira was at .243/.352/.535 with 24 homers.

Teixeira's at .242/.323/.448 with 14 homers at almost the halfway point. Make it stop

[ArodEra]

What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?

[snapple]

What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?

Clown funny.

[ArodEra]

Clown funny.

What do you mean, the way I talk?

[dabomb2045]

Its pretty obvious that this guy has declined severly. It started in 2010, got worse in 2011 and continues to get worse in 2012. If you combine post-ASB 2011 and pre-ASB 2012...you have a mid to high .700 OPS player. Just terrible. We'll likely never know the reason. My best guess its some combination of mechanical and mental...but just a guess. Its a mystery. As stated before, sometimes guys just lose it right away. Strange that this decline started at 30 though. At least a guy like Robbie Alomar was 34 when he went from upper echelon 2B to washed up in the span of one year. I just really dont know whats going on here.

This should be a bigger deal then it is too. I feel like many people just have put their heads in the sand and refuse to acknowledge their is a huge problem here. This is a guy signed at superstar money for 4 more years and he's basically turned into a slightly better version of Carlos Pena.

[Yankeesfan924]

What do you mean, the way I talk?

That's a clown question, bro.

[rajah]

So I ask a facetious question and get given a lesson in morality.
Earlier in the year Tex was pretty bad but he was genuinely ill, that was the reason/excuse he was slumping.

Reason and excuse can be used interchangeably for this situation with Tex. Sure he could be trying. I don't doubt that at all. However he's doing the same thing, getting the same results without the will to change his approach. He gets a hot streak for a short period of time then goes back to slumping for an extended period of time. Each hot streak bringing new hope that he's finally going to be what we signed up for, each slump a reminder that this is what Tex has come.

I've been patient with Tex, but my hope has turned to resignation that the past 2 and a half seasons are the new Tex that we will have to live with. A shame as he has the ability to be so much more.

So I guess you are just exercising your right to vent about the lack of and decline in performance that disappoints and disheartens us all. If your use of the word "excuse" was directed at other posters rather than Teixeira, I understand, but I don't think anyone is really denying his decline. How could they, given the statistics?

Anyway, I don't see a suggested reason in your response, unless you think he does not have "will", whatever that is.

I'm probably an excessively hopeful guy when it comes to baseball performance. But objectively I have to agree that it is looking pretty bad for him, given the multiyear trend, and I agree with dabomb, that it is a real big deal for the Yankees.

[ArodEra]

That's a clown question, bro.

Imagine locking Bryce Harper in a room with Joe Pesci?

[35Knucklecurve]

For starters, I'd be happy if he just stopped batting left-handed. Seriously, just try it for awhile and see if it makes a difference. If I were him, at this point I would be willing to give anything a shot. I am assuming that the bronchitis/coughing is no longer a concern. What we've been seeing the past couple of seasons isn't a guy who gets off to a slow start or runs into an occasional slump. You can't go into a slump unless you've been hitting. Some of his quotes, to be quite honest, don't sit well with me. Sure, you are supposed to remain positive, but he seems to think the player he was five years ago is reason enough to think he's doing his job now. "I'm still Mark Texiera" and "Look at the numbers on the back of my baseball card" sound like a denial because I'd hate to think he actually believes there's nothing different.

[snapple]

I believe he needs surgery on his vocal cords. Not that it affects his playing.

I'm just seeing a guy who hasn't been able to get hot. And I'd be fine if he didn't get hot until October. I'd rather Tex show up then. I'm getting frustrated. I'm here defending Tex left and right and I still believe in the guy. I just wish he'd show up. Optimistic snapple says hes walking a bit more and he's at least getting some sac flies. But, I want to see some fuggin' hits.

[False1]

This should be a bigger deal then it is too. I feel like many people just have put their heads in the sand and refuse to acknowledge their is a huge problem here. This is a guy signed at superstar money for 4 more years and he's basically turned into a slightly better version of Carlos Pena.

Does it though? Snapple - bless his heart - is eternally optimistic. But who here is refusing to acknowledge the decline or the importance of it?

[snapple]

I have a hard time seeing a number decline as direct correlation of a players decline. The shift kills him. He hits a ton of popups. Maybe the hot air in Atlanta/LA/Texas helped his numbers. If this season ends bad, I'm going from optimistic to cautiously optimistic. I really thought he would have put things together by now.

[ElDandy]

This should be a bigger deal then it is too. I feel like many people just have put their heads in the sand and refuse to acknowledge their is a huge problem here. This is a guy signed at superstar money for 4 more years and he's basically turned into a slightly better version of Carlos Pena.

Everybody knows there's a problem, it's just not a problem with a solution. There's nothing to gripe about since the majority of us are just dumbfounded as to what the hell happened.

[Jax Teller]

Dropping down some bunts down the third base line for a guaranteed single from time to time sure wouldn't hurt.

I remember seeing Ortiz do that a few times.

[snapple]

I don't know. If a guy is confident he'll rebound, do you take his confidence away by asking him to bunt? With someone like Tex, you give them time because he has a track record. I don't know if you let Tex come to you or what.