TAMPA – The Yankees have a definitive plan in place for bringing Mark Teixeira’s rehab assignment.
Teixeira will leave the team’s spring training complex here Tuesday and play for Double A-Trenton on Wednesday and Thursday. On Saturday, the star first baseman will play an extended spring training game against the Pirates, take Sunday off and then play two more extended spring games Monday and Tuesday before taking off for New Jersey.
After Thursday with the Thunder, he hopes to be ready for the big leagues. The first day he’s eligible to play in the majors is May 30.
“I feel awesome,” Teixeira said. … “That’s the plan right now, but it could always change.”
Teixeira has not played at all this season after suffering a tendon injury in his right wrist March 5 while competing for the United States team at the World Baseball Classic. Lately, he has been participating in simulated games instead of extended spring games, because he can see more pitches in the controlled atmosphere of simulated games.
Teixeira and third baseman Kevin Youkilis (back) both played in a very long simulated game Friday, which Teixeira called “serious.”
“That was challenging,” he said. “It was good. It’s hot here. We got a lot of work done.”
There has been speculation as to how many at bats Teixeira might need before returning to the big leagues, with many believing it to be in the 50 to 70 range. Teixeira thinks it’s closer to 50.
“We will see how close we get to that,” he said. “But I feel really good.”