The New York Yankees had to get creative once again as they pieced together a starting infield for their game against the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.
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This situation was slightly different, however, as it did not revolve around their lack of options. Brian Cashman and company recently added a number of capable big league infielders so that manager Joe Girardi could actually write down the names of guys who could make up a playoff worthy lineup.
In this case, the Yankees had a weird infield because they were forced to scratch Mark Teixeira from the lineup late in the proceedings. The veteran first baseman was feeling lightheaded and therefore was unavailable for this game. Per Jake Kring-Schreifels of MLB.com:
"Mark Teixeira was removed from Monday’s starting lineup minutes before the first pitch due to lightheadedness.Manager Joe Girardi moved third baseman Chase Headley to first base to replace Teixeira, brought in Martin Prado from right field to third base, and inserted Ichiro Suzuki into the lineup to play right."
Headley had some adventurous moments at first base in the first few innings, but nothing that necessarily cost his team at the time. As for Prado, he managed to make some beautiful plays over at third base, though a throwing error from him would set up an unearned run against starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy.
There is no shortage of veteran wisdom on the Yankees’ roster, with Teixeira among that group of players. The switch-hitting first baseman has been productive all year, so now it is just a matter of him staying in the lineup consistently in August and September.