Yankees place Mark Teixeira on DL
The New York Yankees played without Mark Teixeira for all but 15 games last season, and now they will play without him for at least the next two weeks this season.
Teixeira was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday after suffering a hamstring injury of unknown severity Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Teixeira has not had a test -- the Yankees say he will undergo an MRI when the team returns to New York for its home opener on Monday -- but was clearly in no shape to play after leaving in the second inning of Friday's 7-3 victory over the Blue Jays.
"I play through anything and everything, but the team's being smart here," Teixeira said. "If it was October 30, I'd play the last game of the season. But there's no reason to try that right now, and I'm hoping it's only going to be two weeks."
Teixeira, who missed just 16 games in his first three seasons as a Yankee and twice in his career has played all 162, missed 39 games with a calf injury in 2012 and underwent season-ending wrist surgery last year, costing him 147 games. He said this latest injury nearly caused his frustration to boil over Friday night.
"I wanted to break everything in this clubhouse last night when I came in here, but I respect the Blue Jays organization more than that," he said. "I felt like I did everything this offseason and this spring to get my body in position to play all season.
"I was very blessed the first 10 years of my career to only land on the DL a couple of times, missing a few games here and there. The last year-and-change have not been fun, but it's just a bump in the road hopefully."
The Yankees will move Kelly Johnson, their everyday third baseman in place of Alex Rodriguez, over to first base during Teixeira's absence. Rookies Yangervis Solarte and Dean Anna will split time at third base, with backup catcher Francisco Cervelli also available to fill in.
The Yankees recalled catcher Austin Romine from Triple-A Scranton to fill the roster vacancy.
"It's not what you want, but we have to deal with it," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's a big impact. You're taking out a very productive bat and a very good first baseman. We're going to have to live without it for a while."
