BALANCE OF POWER
No matter how many times the Yankees are asked if they are surprised by the number of homers they have swatted early in the season, the response is loud and clear: “No.”
Actually, the only people who might think a lineup that houses Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius and is getting a boost from Tyler Austin and Gleyber Torres would surprise by hitting home runs in bunches are the folks asking the question.
The Yankees hit more homers than any other team in baseball. There is a chance they will challenge the single-season record for homers (264) set by the 1997 Mariners, who were led by Ken Griffey Jr.’s 56.
“No, look at the guys in our lineup,” CC Sabathia said with a laugh when asked if he was amazed by the Yankees hitting 12 homers in three games against the Rangers and 21 in past five games. “We can hit.’’
That was on display Wednesday night against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas, where the Yankees hit four homers but Sabathia, Chasen Shreve and David Robertson flushed two leads in an ugly 12-10 defeat. The Red Sox lost Thursday, but the Yankees (31-16) are still a game back of AL East-leading Boston after losing two of three to the lowly Rangers.
With a major league-leading 79 homers in 47 games entering Thursday’s action (the Yankees were idle), they were averaging 1.68 home runs per game. Across a 162-game season, that pace would lead to the Yankees hitting 272 home runs and eclipsing the Mariners’ record.
The Yankees’ franchise record is 245, achieved in 2012, and that is a lot closer to reach. Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano led that lineup with 43 and 33, respectively.
“We can hit, those guys can hit, so it doesn’t amaze me,’’ said Aaron Boone, whose lineup card could add more muscle with lefthanded-hitting first baseman Greg Bird expected to come off the disabled list Saturday. He hasn’t played yet this season due to ankle surgery.
“We have a lot of power and guys are going up there and grinding through at-bats,” Boone said. “I think when you do that consistently and the talent they possess, home runs are a lot of times the result.’’
Stanton hit 59 homers last year, when he was the NL MVP. Judge won the AL Rookie of Year award
largely based on his 52 homers. Sanchez hit 33 and missed almost a month, so it shouldn’t be a surprise they have 11, 13 and 12, respectively, this year. Despite a dreadful May after a scintillating April, Gregorius has 11 homers after hitting a career-high 25 last year, when he missed three weeks.
However, eight homers each from Austin and Torres have been a bonus and help fill the void left by Bird, who was scheduled to hit third between Judge and Stanton.
When the right-handed-hitting Torres was elevated from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 22, he was expected to play solid defense and provide a tough out at the bottom of the lineup. With a .323 batting average, eight homers, 22 RBIs and an OPS of .998, the 21-year-old obviously has done more than expected.
But don’t think he now believes he can morph into another Yankees bat capable of hitting balls over walls like Stanton and Judge.
“I try to take good at-bats,” said Torres, who hit four homers in three games against the Rangers and is the youngest Yankee in franchise history to homer in three consecutive games. “I never try to hit a home run.”