A Closer Look: Mark Teixeira

Fantasy owners of Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira have to be wondering when Mark Teixeira is going to break out of his season long slump at the plate. A career .286 hitter, Tex is hitting just .220-.337-.383 in 227 at bats this season. He currently has 9 HRs and 37 RBIs, so he is on pace to hit around 27 HRs and drive in 110 runs, which isn't bad, but fantasy owners expected more on draft day.

So why isn't he hitting? Looking at his peripheral stats, one stat that jumps out to me is his BABIP of .238. His career BABIP is .305, so he is due to start hitting, as some of those balls in play will start to fall in for hits.

Teixeira's plate patience hasn't changed much since last hear as he is walking a bit more this year than last year-13.5% vs 11.5%, but he is striking out just a tad more-20.3% vs 18.7%. He batted ball percentages really haven't changed much as he is hitting a few more ground balls and a few less fly balls. The fact that he is still hitting line drives at a 20% clip is a good sign that he should turn things around soon.

Tex has always been a better second half hitter than a first half hitter, as his career first half BA is .275, while his second half BA sits at .305. He has always been a slow starter as he has hit just .235 in the month of April, but he usually starts to heat up in May and June as he owns a career May BA of .293 and June BA of .274.

What has hurt Tex this year is his abysmal April BA of .136, as he hit .280 in May. So far in June he is hitting just .214, but that is based on just 28 at bats.

What these peripheral stats tell me is Tex is on his way back to hitting like the old Tex, but it will take him a bit longer to get his BA back up to the .280+ range. Stay patient. He hits in a good lineup, and once those batted balls start dropping in for hits, the BA will rise.