After an offseason in which Mark Teixeira talked about getting into better shape to become a more productive player, he has been off to an unproductive start.
Perhaps now he’s figured out why.
The Yankees first baseman visited a chest specialist at Columbia Presbyterian yesterday and was diagnosed with “severely inflamed bronchial airways” that have impacted his breathing.
“I was getting no air,” Teixeira said before the Yankees’ 4-1 loss to the Rays last night in The Bronx in which he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout to drop his average to .217. “I’ve never gotten over the cough I’ve had all year.”
Teixeira has begun taken prednisone, a non-anabolic steroid that is supposed to open his airways.
“The doctor said I was 100 percent healthy except for the airways,” Teixeira said. “But anything could irritate it.”
Teixeira said he isn’t sure what kind of impact it has made on his season, but figures it has had some effect.
“It hasn’t helped,” Teixeira said. “But everyone is fighting through something.”
Nevertheless, the Yankees would like Teixeira to revert back to the player he has been in the past, especially because fellow middle-of-the- order hitters, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano, have not been as productive as they usually are.
* Eric Chavez still is waiting to get clearance to come off the seven-day disabled list for the concussion he suffered diving for a ball last Wednesday.
The third baseman took a memory- based test to determine whether he was still affected by the injury.
“One part of the test was questionable,” Chavez said of the results. “We’re hoping to know [today].”
Chavez worked out for the first time since the injury Tuesday and resumed baseball activity yesterday, and said he feels like he’s ready to resume playing.
“I do,” Chavez said. “A couple of days ago, I probably wouldn’t have said that.”
* Brett Gardner went 1-for-2 in his second rehab game for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last night as he continues his comeback from a strained right elbow. Gardner had a run and two walks.
“It shouldn’t be too long,” manager Joe Girardi said of the wait for Gardner’s return to the Yankees. … Derek Jeter, who went 1-for-4, became the first Yankee to get 50 hits in the team’s first 30 games.
* CC Sabathia (4-0, 4.15) will go up against David Price (5-1, 2.35) tonight in a battle of two of the best lefties in the American League, but Sabathia isn’t looking forward to the start more than any other.
“I know how good he is, but I can’t let that change what I do,” Sabathia said. “I take all my starts seriously, so this one will be no different.”