BAD TENDON-CY: Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira will be shut down for at least a week following a cortisone shot in his inflamed right wrist, meaning he probably will land on the disabled list for the second time. (AP)
BAD TENDON-CY: Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira will be shut down for at least a week following a cortisone shot in his inflamed right wrist, meaning he probably will land on the disabled list for the second time. (
)
Mark Teixeira seems bound for the disabled list again, and surgery on his right wrist is possible. Don’t expect Kevin Youkilis back anytime soon. And Brian Cashman would have preferred to hear from hitting coach Kevin Long that Teixeira wasn’t right from the time he came off the DL instead of reading it in the Sunday paper.
Those were the developments yesterday in the Yankees’ universe as the club relaxed before opening a two-game series tonight at the Stadium against the Don Mattingly-led Dodgers.
“I am leaning toward the [15-day] DL, just because I have been informed that he will be down because of [Sunday’s cortisone] shot for a few days,’’ Cashman said of Teixeira, who removed himself from Saturday’s game in Anaheim because an issue with the same wrist that forced him to miss the first two months of the season.
“Then you have to get him going with tee work and get him going slowly to batting practice, but he wouldn’t be a player for us for about seven days is my understanding, at the minimum. Essentially, for what he is going through, the extra week will make a lot more sense. I haven’t done anything there yet, but I am leaning toward the disabled list.’’
Season-ending surgery is a possibility for the switch-hitting first baseman if rest doesn’t cure the problem, which was described as inflammation Sunday.
“Is this something that is a recurring theme because of the previous injury [torn tendon sheath] that is going to prevent him from being all he can be? If that’s the case, he will have to have the surgery,” Cashman said. “I don’t think anybody can honestly tell you, except the experts looking at the MRI diagnosed it as an inflamed tendon. Clearly it’s related to the injury he had in the spring, but is it something that will prevent him from playing or force him to have the surgery? I can’t rule any of that stuff out.’’
In 15 games, Teixeira is batting .151 with three homers and 12 RBIs.
Youkilis, who missed the three-game series against the Angels with lower back discomfort and was on the DL for a month earlier this season, was slated to be examined yesterday in California by back surgeon Dr. Robert Watkins. Though Cashman had not heard anything by midday, the general manager was not optimistic.
“Back issues usually don’t get better — they are very debilitating and hard to get a handle on,’’ Cashman said. “It’s definitely a concern, so as of right now I am not planning on him until [doctors] tell me I can plan on him. I just know that he isn’t the player he can be because of the back right now.’’
As for Long telling the media Saturday night that Teixeira had been off since returning May 31, Cashman would have preferred hearing from Long first. Cashman was asked if the news was alarming.
“It’s alarming in the fact that K-Long would say that to reporters, but he has never said that prior that,” Cashman said. “If K-Long felt that way, he should have been saying that from Day 1, but we never heard that from K-Long.”
Cashman quickly interjected he isn’t ticked at the hitting coach.
“Before anybody asks am I mad at Kevin Long? No. But do I think that commentary jives with Kevin Long’s comments internally in that clubhouse regarding this player prior to him going down? The answer is absolutely not,” Cashman explained. “Sometimes in the situation where people have a chance to say something publicly, it’s a lot different. If K-Long said that, he is a monk because he kept his mouth shut the whole time.”
Asked if he was caught off-guard, Cashman said, “Some people are better with the microphone than others. Let’s put it that way.”
george.king@nypost.com