The New York Yankees have been receiving nothing but bad news lately.

 

First, Derek Jeter suffered a regression with his injured ankle and would not return until after the All-Star break.

 

Now, the Bombers have been hit with the revelation that Mark Teixeira won't be ready to play by Wed 1 May, as had been planned.

 

It seems as if Teixeira's wrist is not loose enough to begin hitting. Understandably, he's going to need a fair amount of work with the bat before he can get his rhythm and timing back. This will call for Teixeira to not only work his way back into form, but also to increase movement without damaging his wrist. That's a tall task with an uncertain outcome. Lately, it's beomg reported that the only swinging being done by Teixeria is underwater, so he has along way to go before he can hit a soft-toss or off of a tee.

 

Originally, Teixeira's injury had a estimated heal time of 8-10 weeks, so a 1 May return date was always pretentious, but what seems more troubling is that he is still not ready to swing a bat. So a return closer to the middle of May remains possible but not probable.

 

Surprisingly, the silver lining in this situation may be Lyle Overbay. He's been filling in for Teixeira at first base in most games this season and has been overachieving to an extent that no one could expect. As well as he has played, though, the Yankees can't wait Teixeira to get off injury reserve. The thinking is Overbay's bubble will burst sooner rather than later.

 

All is not lost. The Yankees are treading water, third in the division and only one-and-a-half games behind the Boston Red Sox. They're four games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays, who have injury issues of their own.

 

For now, the Yankees continue to prove their detractors wrong. They always seem to find a way to play in October, and everyone knows that's when the season actually begins.