Teixeira is over his cough and red hot at the plate

After insisting he was fine and his cough wasn’t affecting him for nearly two months, Mark Teixeira finally took a few days off last week and has come back strong ever since. By Friday Joe Girardi told reporters that he hadn’t seen Teixeira coughing anymore and by Tuesday his OPS is nearly 200 points higher than it had been just a week before. Teixeira started heating up last week against the Royals and really caught fire against the A’s. Over his last seven games he is hitting .480/.581/1.120/1.701 with four homers and more walks than strikeouts. On May 2, Teixeira’s numbers for the season were at their lowest. He was hitting .226/.270/.366/.636 on that day. They weren’t much better on May 20, but today they stand at .263/.330/.491/.821 overall, a vast improvement. This is huge for the Yankees. Not only has his production been missed, but because he often hits in the middle of the lineup he is probably the main driving force in the Yankees numbers with runners in scoring position being so pathetic. If he turns things around then it will add a huge level of consistency to the Yankees lineup. It’s no surprise that they have been 5-2 during his seven-game stretch (they should be 6-1, but Monday night’s game was a disaster). Related StoriesMay 22, 2012 -- Yankees drop Teixeira to 7th in the lineupMay 18, 2012 -- Yankees struggles continue with RISPMay 18, 2012 -- Teixeira considering taking a breakMay 17, 2012 -- Yankees offense struggling over last 20 games