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Derek Jeter will sit out his first game of the season. Just a routine day off.

YANKEES
Curtis Granderson CF
Nick Swisher RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Raul Ibanez LF
Eric Chavez DH
Russell Martin C
Jayson Nix SS
 
Pitching: Hiroki Kuroda (3-4, 3.56)

Introducing Players A and B, and their 2012 numbers through Wednesday's games:

Player A
Stats: .232 BA, 5 HR, 19 RBI, .683 OPS
Salary: $180 million over eight years
Skinny: Average has steadily declined since posting a .353 clip in 2008, but power numbers and glove remain at elite levels.

Player B
Stats: .212BA, 1 HR, 14 RBI, .505 OPS
Salary: Approximately $254 million over 10 years
Skinny: Annually rated as one of the best players in the world and a bona fide threat to Barry Bonds’ all-time home run record. Receiving the benefit of the doubt by those waiting with confidence he’ll bust out. And waiting, and waiting, and waiting ….

Player A is Mark Teixeira. Player B is Albert Pujols. Teixeira has been affected by a bronchial infection since last month, which could be attributed to his usual slow start. Still, Teixeira has been a target of consternation; he was booed Sunday at Yankee Stadium after striking out with the bases loaded and two out in the eighth inning. Pujols also received a Bronx cheer last week from a normally laid-back southern California audience, but consider him fortunate those informal offseason discussions to join the Yankees as a free agent never came close to fruition.

Absolutely nobody predicted Pujols having this much difficulty playing in the American League. (Disclaimer: If you really did, you will be forced to pick my lottery numbers.) So to those frustrated with Teixeira, understand that Pujols’ current plight is worse.

The Yankees are hoping Teixeira’s heroics Monday in Baltimore serve as a turning point. Since he went 3-for-6 with two homers and six RBIs during the Yankees’ epic comeback in Boston April 21, he’s hit .169 with one homer in his next 19 games. But there is hope. Teixeira’s numbers on May 14, 2009 were .203-7-19. He ended his first season in pinstripes .292-39-122 and won his first World Series. Even when his batting average dipped, Teixeira became the fourth Yankee in franchise history to slug at least 30 homers in each of his first three years with the club (Babe Ruth, Roger Maris and Alex Rodriguez).

“We know he’s capable of doing more and I think we’ll see it,” said Joe Girardi. “I think it’s coming soon, I really believe that.”

Pujols is too good to continue to play this badly. The only player in league history to hit 30 or more homers in each of his first 11 seasons is 8-for-35 (.229– all singles) since belting his first home run in Game 28. In the Angels’ alarming eight shutout losses, Tweeted Danny Knobler, Pujols has gone 3-for-31 (.097) -- worse than his .225 average in games where the Angels do score a run. His struggles are one reason why the Angels fired hitting coach Mickey Hatcher on Tuesday. Los Angeles (16-21) has scored just 134 runs, ranking 22nd in the Majors, with an on-base percentage of .301 that's worse than all but three teams. Then there was the incident of Hatcher sharing details about a team meeting with reporters, which angered Pujols.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer took it a step further, citing a decline from “a post-modern Stan Musial” to “He is a living, breathing ‘John Carter” while threatening to lump Pujols with the New Coke and Dennis Miller’s “Monday Night Football” tenure as part of the five unofficial “biggest flops of the past half-century in American life.”

At least Teixeira is spared of such harsh treatment while he attempts to get going. Because Pujols is Pujols and making Gordon Gekko money, the pressure is intensifying despite playing 3,000 miles west of the big city.

Follow Jon Lane on Twitter: @JonLaneNYC

When Ivan Nova is on the mound, good things tend to happen for the Yankees. Consider:

• If given a lead, Nova is near unbreakable. Entering Monday night against the Orioles, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, Nova is 21-1 in 33 starts pitching with an advantage and Yankees are 28-5 in those games.

• More from Elias: The Yankees haven’t made an error with Nova pitching in 37.2 innings this season.

• The Yankees are 5-1 in Nova’s starts. Last season, their 19-8 record was the second-best for an American League team in starts by one pitcher. The Tigers were 25-9 when Justin Verlander was on the mound.

• Nova and the Yankees starters have stepped up their games in May. Nova comes off his finest start May 8 when he held the Rays to two runs on six hits in seven innings with two walks and a season-high-tying eight strikeouts. Over the Yanks’ 4-2 homestand, the starting five went 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA.

Monday's lineups in Baltimore:

YANKEES
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Nick Swisher RF
Raul Ibanez LF
Eric Chavez 3B
Russell Martin C
 
Pitching: Ivan Nova (4-1, 5.02)
 
ORIOLES
Xavier Avery LF
J.J. Hardy SS
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones CF
Matt Wieters C
Wilson Betemit 3B
Chris Davis 1B
Nick Johnson DH
Robert Andino 2B
 
Pitching: Jason Hammel (4-1, 2.09)

Follow Jon Lane on Twitter: @JonLaneNYC

Tonight (YES, 7 p.m.)
Ivan Nova (4-1, 5.02) vs. Jason Hammel (4-1, 2.09)

Tuesday (My9, 7 p.m.)
CC Sabathia (5-0, 3.51) vs. Wei-Yin Chen (3-0, 2.68)

Follow Jon Lane on Twitter: @JonLaneNYC

Seriously? One blown save and there are those, albeit a small segment, who don’t believe David Robertson is cut out to be “Mariano Rivera’s replacement?”

The vast majority of fans are behind Robertson and Robertson expressed his gratitude over Twitter. Of course, there were others who believed AM (after Mariano) was the end of the world. My guess is that similar folk braced for Rivera’s decline each time he blew a save.

Look, there will never be another Mariano Rivera. David Robertson will never be Mariano Rivera’s replacement, nor will he be the next Mariano Rivera. David Robertson will be the next David Robertson and will create his own niche in baseball. In fact, he already did as the most dominant relief pitcher in the game. B.J. Upton’s sacrifice fly Wednesday night was the first run scored off Robertson since last September 1 and 26 1/3 innings pitched. Matt Joyce’s game-breaking three-run home run was only the second long ball Robertson allowed in 96 innings.

Robertson’s ERA last season was 1.08, which earned him, an eighth-inning guy, enough appreciation to finish 11^th in AL MVP voting. Opponents loaded the bases 19 times against Robertson in 2011. He responded by allowing one hit and striking out 14. He’s been that damn good (copyright: Hunter "Triple H" Levesque), so why the fuss?

"Let's give the kid a chance," said Joe Girardi after the game. "Anytime you move up in a role it's an adjustment, but I have a ton of confidence that he's going to do a good job for us and he'll bounce back.

 "This could be tough for him, but as I said, this is a pretty resilient kid. This is a kid that's done special things for us and you can't forget that."

The YES Network’s Jack Curry referenced his article for the New York Times back in 1997 over the air and via Twitter, a time when Rivera, adjusting to his new role as closer, blew three of his first six save chances. You don’t do what Robertson has done since escaping a bases-loaded, nobody out situation in Game 2 of the 2009 ALDS – the night Nick Swisher coined the Houdini nickname – without being tough. Rivera figured it out, so will Robertson, and he may actually not blow another save for some time?

“I’ll see how he reacts,” Girardi said. “Take a look at his eyes (today), at his face, and make an evaluation of what I have to do. Being the closer is a little bit like being that kicker with two seconds to go and you’ve got a 45-yard field goal. You either make it and you’re the hero or you’ve got to find a way to bounce back. The great ones find a way to bounce back.”

Rather than ridiculously put him out to pasture after one failure, put Robertson in the great category. His challenge will be getting better. He deserves the concept of time, trial and error before he receives final judgment.

Follow Jon Lane on Twitter: @JonLaneNYC