Mark Teixeira

I'm sure we have all heard about Mark Teixeira saying he will be laying down bunts this year to avoid hitting into the shift. As a left handed hitter Teixeira hit 100% of his home runs to right field. and 62% of his hits went to right field as a left handed hitter. The shift is a good idea from the opposing managers.

When Teixeira is hitting against the shift the third baseman moves all the way next to second base. Teixeira's mentality is: If there is no one at third base, i'll just hit it over there. His on base percentage vs right handed pitching is .325. If there is a right handed pitcher on the mound 74% of time then Teixeira has a problem. There should be an increase in Teixeira's on base percentage but a decrease in his home runs if he goes through with this.

The opposing team will notice that Teixeira is getting on base due to the bunt and will move the players back to normal alignment. When back to normal alignment Teixeira can swing for the fences and not hit into the shift. Teixiera will probably hit 5th this season so his overall performance wont be as important as it was when he was hitting 3rd. If Teixeira can get everything together and get on base and continue to hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 RBI's The Yankees will again have a devastating line up.