Mark Teixeira is known for being a slow starter. However, after spending extra time in the batting cage this offseason, Tex is off to one of the hottest starts in baseball.
Last year, the Yankee first basemen didn't hit his first home run until twelve games into the season. He also hit only .136 for the entire month of April. Already Teixeira has three homers and seven RBIs this season, and John Sterling is loving every "tex message" minute of it.
After his third-inning home run this afternoon, Teixeira became only the second Yankee to homer in each of his team's first three games. Dave Winfield was the other, accomplishing the feat in 1983.
Tex is red hot, but he's not the only Yankee who looks good early on.
Alex Rodriguez has followed his hot spring with a great start to the regular season. A-Rod only has one home run in the early season, but he is making loud outs, driving the ball to the warning track almost every time he comes to the plate. Also, there doesn't seem to be a concern over his surgically-repaired hip, meaning A-Rod should be back to being the A-Rod of old, both in the field and at the plate.
Yesterday afternoon's starter A.J. Burnett took the mound for the first time since his dreadful 2010 season. An under-the-weather Burnett earned the win lasting five innings, while allowing three earned runs. But the best sign from Burnett had to be the fact that he battled. Too many times last season, Burnett would let one pitch turn into a bad inning.
Derek Jeter has also gotten off to a good start. If you had any doubts about Jeter's "new" swing, he has collected a few hits, marching closer to his quest for 3000. Jeter, who's batting from the No. 2 spot against right-handers, came into the day trailing only A-Rod on the team in batting average. He's now tied for 35th on the all-time hits list, just 72 away from becoming the first Yankee to ever record 3000 hits.
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