Mark Teixeira: Least Clutch of All Time?

Mark Teixeira now has 54 postseason plate appearances. In those 54 PAs, he is hitting .244/.352/.311. Can we go ahead and start asking whether Mark Teixeira is the least clutch hitter of all time?

Surely he has to be the least clutch Yankee hitter ever. His Yankee postseason BA is .133, his OBP .235, and his SLG .233. This is a Yankee postseason OPS of .468.

Perhaps Mark Teixeira just doesn't have enough protection in this anemic Yankee offense. Or perhaps he's still getting used to the high pressure and expecations of the New York media and fanbase. Maybe all that money has gone to his head and he just doesn't care about winning.

Of course, none of these is likely the real explanation. It is almost certain that Mark Teixeira's poor postseason performance can be chalked up to small sample size. He has had only 54 plate appearances, after all. Give him 100 more, and you'll likely see a player who looks more Pujols than Punto.

So why did we give Alex Rodriguez this treatment and not Teixeira? Easy. Because the Yankees are winning now. Well, that and the whole "slap" incident in 2004. If the Yankees were not cruising to a pennant at the moment, you can bet Tex would be the new pariah. Here's a scary thought: what would the Yankees look like if Tex were hitting like, well, Tex?

Luckily for the Yankees, Rodriguez is hitting well enough for both of them. He could have beaten the Angels single-handedly last night. In fact, he almost did (albeit with a great outing from C.C. Sabathia).

In the MLB postseason, you play the probabilities. You don't move Rodriguez down to 8th in the lineup when he's not hitting well, you don't intentionally walk Torii Hunter to get to Vlad Guererro with a first-pitch fastball in mind, and you don't pull David Robertson for Alfredo Aceves when the former had already gotten two easy outs with filthy stuff.

So don't worry about Teixeira (in the off-chance that you were). He will be fine.