Mark Teixeira is done for the season. As the Bronx Bombers head down the stretch, and hopefully into the playoffs, they’ll be without their slugging first baseman, who was finally diagnosed with a fracture in his right leg. The loss of Teixeira is certainly a tough break, but with resolution coming four weeks after he initially sustained the injury, it begs the question, when exactly did that break occur?
Thankfully, it is a bone bruise. If there were a break in there we would be in real trouble.” – Brian Cashman, quoted by ESPN, August 18, 2015
Teixeira’s injury was sustained on August 17, when the first baseman fouled a ball off his right shin and was forced to leave the game. The initial diagnosis was a “bad bone bruise”, and the switch hitter was listed as day-to-day. Compared to Brian Mitchell’s bloody encounter with a batted ball that struck his face, Teixeira’s bruise seemed like a minor concern, especially after an x-ray revealed “no structural damage”. Crisis averted, or so it appeared at the time.
“Alarms went off” when Teixeira awoke the next day with great pain, putting the team’s initial seven-day time table in jeopardy. However, a full battery of tests, this time including an MRI and CT scan, once again allayed the team’s fears. The bone bruise diagnosis was confirmed and a DL stint was avoided. The improvement that Teixeira reported shortly thereafter was also encouraging. However, the pain persisted. Still, that didn’t stop the Yankees from trying to accelerate his return, and sure enough, almost exactly on schedule, the Yankees “rolled the dice” and re-inserted Teixeira into the starting lineup. After six innings of a 15-1 blowout on August 26, the experiment was over.
We rolled the dice a little bit [Tuesday] because we were facing a lefty and hopefully when we get to Atlanta it will be better.” – Joe Girardi, quoted by Newsday, August 26, 2015
Watching Teixeira try to run in his return was painful, but probably nothing compared to what the first baseman was feeling. The switch hitter continued to report soreness, but, after an examination by the Atlanta Braves team doctor, another battery of tests was postponed. This time the culprit was inflammation.
I thought it was as simple as needing a little bit more time. The day off [Thursday] should have taken care of that. It’s not that simple because it’s not any better.” – Mark Teixeira, quoted by the New York Post, August 28, 2015
Finally, on September 1, the Yankees decided to have Teixeira undergo another thorough examination. This time, the results were not encouraging. Although the bone bruise diagnosis remained, the timetable for it healing was extended considerably. The news was discouraging. The timing was worse. The waiver trade deadline had passed, and the Yankees had done nothing to cushion the blow.
Teixeira’s worst case scenario was confirmed yesterday, when a third battery of tests finally revealed a fracture. Was it there all along, as Brian Cashman suggested, or did it develop over time because of the stress involved in Teixeira’s attempts to return on schedule? That question isn’t easy to answer, especially by those without a medical degree, but either outcome reflects poorly on the Yankees.
If Teixeira’s fracture resulted from the stress of rehabbing and trying to play through the pain, the Yankees failure to exercise greater caution is directly at fault. Regardless of what tests revealed, Teixeira repeatedly reported pain and discomfort, so the Yankees had every reason to take it slow. Instead, they “rolled the dice”.
MRIs and doctors are not infallible, so maybe the fracture was there all along? That’s certainly possible, but even if so, it doesn’t exonerate the Yankees’ handling of the situation. While it’s true that Teixeira would have been lost for the season regardless of when the break was first detected, an earlier discovery would have provided more time for the Yankees to make contingency plans. Had the second battery of tests been conducted before the trade deadline, for example, the team could have added much-needed reinforcements. And, that criticism is valid regardless of when (or even if) the fracture occurred. After all, for two full weeks, the Yankees knew that something was causing Teixeira an extreme and inordinate amount of pain. That alone should have prompted a more proactive response.
At best, the Yankees causal approach to Mark Teixeira’s injury caused them to play short handed for nearly two weeks and also prevented the team from bolstering the roster with a trade or two (even cheaply-obtained right-handed bats like Johnny Gomes and Austin Jackson could have filled some of the void left by Teixeira). At worst, the organization’s carelessness directly contributed to the injury’s severity. Neither reflects well on the organization. Sometimes you make your own breaks. In this instance, the Yankees certainly bare responsibility for theirs breaking bad.
