IS TEIXEIRA ON TARGET?

I hope so. All signs are pointing to "yes" right now but of course, anything can happen and I am not about to put all of my eggs in one basket yet. Mark Teixeira has had a long road back since last year. We need him, and we need him bad. So far it looks good, and I am going to continue to hold onto those good vibes.

Tex says this is business as usual and says that this is "pretty close" to his usual routine, but he is still using certain treatments, read that HERE. Naturally once opening day hits I hope he is feeling stronger and ready to go but I think he makes a good point. During the off season he could do everything at his own pace without any pressure. That's not so much the case now that Spring Training is in full swing. Sure, he isn't exactly competing for a spot, but he does need to show that he is going to be ready. We need that stability at first base and we need him to bring in those 100+ RBIs and have that pop in his bat again. The power will come eventually, I think we all know that. I just hope he doesn't push himself too quickly.

Again, I am going to stick to the good vibes here. I think it was a good sign that he played back-to-back games last week. I think that is a big step so once the Yankees open the regular season in Houston he will have a regular routine and that won't effect his start to the season. We all know that Tex is a slow-starter, so to not be ready could not only give the Yankees a rough start but also put him at more risk for additional injury. I try not to think about that, Joe Girardi seems to be very optimistic so maybe I shouldn't wait for the other shoe to drop so to speak. That whole 2-for 12 stat isn't important right now.

This season is already going to look a lot different. Mariano Rivera is gone. The last time we saw Andy Pettitte will be where the Yankees start the 2014 season. This is the last hurrah for Derek Jeter. I can usually adapt to change pretty easily. I'm ok with it, but I don't know about this year. Some of the familiar faces won't be around this year, so we need everyone ready to go, and that is especially true for Tex.

We are just over two weeks away until the season officially starts. I know I am ready to see Tex back in action and I will probably be a little more tense when something happens to him. I just hope that nothing does happen because let's face it....there is no obvious backup for him *cough*Brandon Laird is gone *cough* but we all know how that rant goes, right?

Anyway.....Welcome back Tex!





--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Senior Writer and Editor
Twitter: @NyPrincessJ



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