The Bronx Bombers Don’t Need Too Many Bombs

Apr 4, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Yankees center fielder

(22) celebrates with New York Yankees first baseman

(25) after scoring a run on an RBI by New York Yankees catcher

(34) during the fourth inning in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees have had a bad reputation about only scoring runs via the homer. I’ll admit it was annoying when the team couldn’t scrape hits together to score a run unless the long ball was involved. Sure, home runs are very exciting, but not as exciting as the ball being hit a mile only to smack against the wall and leave the outfielders and base runners scrambling around the field. It picks up the pace of the game and adds a lot more “bang bang” plays which are enjoyable to watch. It’s still early in the season, but what this Yankees’ team is displaying is the ability to score runs without a towering home run. In fact the Yankees lineup has yet to hit a home run this season and yet they’ve still been able to score.

Even without Mark Teixeira, who was sent to the DL with a strained hamstring, the Yankees’ offense is built for bombs and yet they’ve been without power so far in this newborn season. Instead they’ve been hitting singles and doubles, taking walks and stealing bases. The addition of star outfielder, Jacoby Ellsbury seems to have been a huge piece to a transforming Yankee squad. He found his swing in the Toronto series opener as he collected 3 hits, two of them doubles, and he walked to go along with his two stolen bases. It doesn’t hurt to have speedsters Brett Gardner and Ichiro Suzuki on the club. Altogether, Ellsbury, Gardner, and Ichiro provide the Yankees with three huge threats on the base paths. This is now a team that can turn a walk into a double and a double into a triple and can manufacture runs instead of having to rely on one swing of the bat in order to get a win. But, looking at the lineup, we can be certain that the power will come and it will just add more to the Yankees’ very dynamic offense. They will no longer be solely reliant on the big fly to win  ball games.

In 1998 the New York Yankees were a shining example of a dynamic offense. They played big ball and small ball and of course the are remembered as one of the best teams in baseball history. The 2014 team has the ability to be just that. They can mix up their lineup and keep pitchers on their toes with both power and speed threats in the lineup. It should be very fun to watch this Yankees team once everything starts to click.