Teix Tacks On Another Health Concern

Mark Teixeira was a late scratch for last night's game.  Apparently he was feeling some tightness in his left shoulder/upper back area and couldn't work it out in BP, so Joe played it safe and sat him to see if a day off helped.  Teix told reporters he wasn't that concerned about it and Joe said there was a good possibility he would be able to play this afternoon, but this latest dent in Teix's physical armor has to add concern about how he's going to hold up over the next 3 and a half months.  Since April 4th, here's the list of ailments he's racked up:

• Hamstring strain (14 games missed)
• Groin stiffness/leg fatigue (0 games missed; got 1 half-day off)
• Wrist soreness/cortisone injection (5 games missed)
• Shoulder/back stiffness (1 game missed and counting)

That's a lot of pain and stiffness in a lot of different parts of the body, a 34-year-old body that hasn't been completely healthy for a long time now.  Teix did a great job coming back strong from the hammy strain with 5 HR in his first 11 games back and has remained the only consistent power presence in the middle of the order even as he's battled the wrist problems.  But his inability to go more than a few weeks without something acting up is not a good omen when you look back at the last few years.  Sooner or later, all these little "nothing" injuries are going to add up to something and I don't expect that something to be good.