It’s an age-old problem for the Yankees, one that drew an especially bright spotlight in Monday night’s 2014 Subway Series opener at Yankee Stadium.
It is, to be more precise, an old-age problem.
Even a $500 million offseason infusion couldn’t protect the Yankees against their greatest weakness, again: Their seniority still lurks around every game. By the time the Yankees’ exciting, 9-7 loss became official, and their record dropped to a modest 19-18, three of their elders surfaced with new problems.
“That’s what happens to guys who are older,” Mark Teixeira said. “You get bumps and bruises. That’s the unfortunate part about getting old.”
The 34-year-old Teixeira, the Yankees’ hottest hitter, didn’t start due to a tight left groin. He pinch hit in the ninth inning and delivered a single against Mets closer Kyle Farnsworth, jogging to first base and being replaced immediately by pinch-runner Brendan Ryan. Joe Girardi thought a healthier Teixeira could have made it to second on his line drive into the right-field corner, and therefore would have avoided being forced out on Brian McCann’s subsequent game-ending double play. Teixeira didn’t express as much confidence in that theory, though.
During the game, Carlos Beltran, 37, left with what Girardi called a hyperextended right elbow, an injury the designated hitter suffered while swinging in the cage between at-bats. He underwent an MRI late Mondaynight.
“I’m concerned because it was enough to take him out of the game,” Girardi said.
And when Girardi was asked why Ichiro Suzuki didn’t pinch run for Teixeira, the Yankees’ manager divulged the normally ultra-durable Ichiro, 40, was unavailable after injuring a knee and his back attempting an acrobatic catch Sunday in Milwaukee.
“Tonight I just couldn’t go,” Ichiro said through his interpreter. “I was trying to get warmed up inside, but I was a no-go.”
Moreover, CC Sabathia, who turns 34 in July, will visit noted orthopedist James Andrews for a second opinion on his right knee. Sabathia already is on the disabled list. We’ll see if his stay goes longer than 15 days.
Perhaps to even out the actuarial tables, reliever Shawn Kelley, 29, also was unavailable Monday due to a bad back, and his absence contributed to the Yankees’ bullpen meltdown that allowed the Mets to post a comeback victory. The losing pitcher? 37-year-old lefty specialist Matt Thornton, naturally.
The Yankees’ 39-year-olds proved relatively immune from the surrounding chaos, although neither quite discovered the Fountain of Youth, either. Captain Derek Jeter knocked three soft singles and drew a walk, and starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda at least kept the Yankees in the game with six innings of four-run ball.
In the wake of last year’s disastrous results, the Yankees worked diligently and spent generously over the winter to add some fresh blood. Their most expensive addition, pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, has exceeded their wildest dreams, putting up a 2.57 ERA and recording zero losses in his seven starts. Wednesday’s Subway Series pitting Tanaka against the Mets’ debuting Rafael Montero will give this interleague, intra-city matchup the most juice we’ve experienced in quite a few years.
It’s fitting, if not fully causative, Tanaka, 25, arrived as the youngest of the Yankees’ four newcomers, well behind Beltran and 30-year-olds Jacoby Ellsbury and McCann. Of that position-playing trio, only Ellsbury has performed at an acceptable level to date, presenting the Yankees with an unpalatable scenario to envision: At least Sabathia and Teixeira reaped dividends in the early years of their megadeals, and even A.J. Burnett contributed some. What if this latest big buy doesn’t pay off immediately and then bites the Yankees late as has been the case with their previous investments?
If the Yankees are to climb out of their current morass this season, they’ll have to lean most heavily on the guys still in their primes. On Ellsbury and McCann, and on the currently injured Michael Pineda, who provided so much hope with his early starts before revealing himself to be both remarkably stupid and unsurprisingly fragile within about a week’s time.
It’s not reasonable or realistic to expect Jeter to approach the heights of even recent years, not after his traumatic left ankle injury of 2012. Same goes for Teixeira, who likely can’t sustain his hot streak, and Sabathia. Maybe Beltran will fall in this group, too.
You can’t outrun old age. You can only hope to minimize its importance. And the Yankees haven’t accomplished that mission yet.