Teixeira maintains eight-week timetable

DETROIT -- As Mark Teixeira walked into the visiting clubhouse at Comerica Park on Friday morning, he went past a television showing MLB Network. The headline on the screen said Teixeira could be back sooner than expected.

The first baseman saw it, flashed a big smile and laughed before updating the status of the partially torn tendon sheath in his right wrist. The injury occurred while preparing for the World Baseball Classic in early March.

"Eight weeks is still my timetable," Teixeira said. "Eight to 10. They're not going to let me come back in six or seven. May 1 is right around eight weeks. I think it's eight weeks and a day, so that's a nice round number for me. … I'm not sure where that came from.

"I'm no calendar expert, but when you look at a calendar and it says eight weeks and May 1, it is what it is. Nothing has changed, though, no."

Teixeira has been fielding grounders, working on strengthening and says he feels good. He'll visit again with a doctor when the team returns from the road trip late next week. If all looks well, he'll start swinging again.

As for why he's with the team rather than being in Tampa, Teixeira has seen plenty of Florida in the past month.

"I want to be with the team," he said. "I want to be as supportive as I can and be with our training staff, too. Being in Tampa is great, but we were just there for six weeks, and I kind of want to be with the team as long as I can. I'll go to Tampa once I'm ready to play games."