Yankees Struggle to Hit Homers in “Real” Ball Parks

A few weeks ago, the question, are the Yankees hitting too many home runs was being asked and I thought it was ridiculous.  I said you can never hit too many home runs and hitting them is never a bad thing, but the Yankees are making me question myself.

The Yankees have hit 46 home runs in 29 games.  That is a lot of home runs.  The problem though is, when they are not hitting home runs, they struggle to score runs.

In the Yankees four game series against the Tigers, they lost 3 of 4 and hit only one home run the entire series.  The pitching was not the problem, as all four starters pitched at least 7 innings.  It was the offense that hurt the Yankees.  They scored only 10 runs in the 4 game series and almost the entire team is in a slump.

The Yankees did not bring their home run bats with them to Detroit and are learning that hitting home runs in “real” ball parks is not so easy.  Comerica Park happens to be one of the larger stadiums in the league, so hitting home runs is much more difficult.  The Yankees can use the homer as a weapon in their band box stadium, but in certain ball parks on the road, it will not work.   In most stadiums, a fly ball to right field does not end up in the bleachers.

It is evident that the Yankees are a much better team at home and were built for Yankee Stadium. They have played 18 of their first 29 games at home.  They are 12-6 at home and hit 31 home runs.  It is only a short sampling, but on the road they are 5-6 and have only hit 15 home runs.

If Derek Jeter and Brett Gardner do not start hitting, the Yankees offense will continue to struggle on the road.  They need to set the table and allow the power guys in the line up to drive them in.  It also wouldn’t hurt if A-Rod started to hit.   He looked like the best player in baseball the first 3 weeks of the season, but since he hurt his “left side” against Texas, has not been the same player.

The Yankees now head down to Texas for a weekend series.  We know this about Texas, it is hot and hitting home runs in their ball park is very easy.  They will think they are back at Yankee Stadium with the way balls fly out in Texas.  Additionally, the warm weather should help the older Yankees who are probably sick of playing in the cold.