Yankees: Team has a chance to set MLB home run record

After reaching Game 7 of the ALCS, there is a lot for fans of the New York Yankees to be excited about this summer.

One of the things Yankees fans should be pumped about is the great home run chase.

No, not the one where Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge try to chase the magic number of 60 (though we know that’s not entirely out of the question).

The home run chase, in this case, would be for the Yankees to break the MLB record 264 home runs hit as a team in a season set by the Seattle Mariners in 1997.

Just last season, the Yankees hit 241 home runs. That was done without adding Stanton to an already lethal lineup and not having Todd Frazier’s production for a whole season.

Even with the Yankees losing Frazier’s power at third base after signing a two-year contract with cross-town rival Mets, the Yankees are still in a great place to break the season record.

Take into consideration the production the Yanks could see from Stanton and Judge.

It’s not fair to say the numbers will be similar. Afterall, Stanton has had a history of battling long-term injuries. Last year was the first season since 2011 that the slugger has played in at least 150 games (159 to be exact), and he was rewarded by putting together a 59 home run season.

Judge will be entering his second full season in The Show. Pitchers have taken notice of what strengths and weaknesses the slugger had in his rookie season. That came full circle last August and September.

If both happen to put in a full season, the home run numbers will be there. Recent history is on their side with home run numbers on the rise, hitting a league-record 6,104 dingers last season.

Long-term history, though, is not. Only nine players have ever hit 50 home runs in a season on multiple occasions.

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So imagine the two get anywhere near 100 home runs. That leaves seven other everyday players and others in reserved roles to pick up the other 164 long balls. It’s not a towering task to ask either.

Catcher Gary Sanchez is coming off a 33 home run season, and at age 25, there’s no reason to question if he can keep that sort of production going forward.

Didi Gregorius’ power has come around a lot in each of the last two seasons. He capped off 2017 with 25 home runs. At age 27, he’s entering the typical prime years of a players’ career and looking very comfortable in every role the Yankees have asked him to hit in the lineup.

Greg Bird is likely going to be the team’s X-factor with all of this. Fans have seen him take advantage of the short right field dimensions of Yankee Stadium on two separate occasions, hitting 20 home runs in just 304 at-bats. He only has to find a way to remain on manager Aaron Boone’s lineup card and not on the team’s DL.

The Yankees also have no shortage of outfielders they could use this season. The club will open Spring Training with Stanton, Judge, Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hicks and Clint Frazier all on the roster. 

It’s likely one or two of the names above could be traded for pitching as the team was rumored to be shipping Frazier to the Pirates for pitcher Gerrit Cole, and there has been no shortage of rumors that the Yanks are looking to shop Ellsbury.

Gardner is coming off a season where he hit 21 home runs, and Hicks was well on his way to a 20 himself — hitting 15 before battling nagging injuries. It helps those two have the support of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman too.

“We ended with the current setup of Judge in right, Hicks in center and Gardy in left for a reason,” Cashman said earlier in the offseason. They were the best that we had, and so I think we would anticipate going in that way again. But that doesn’t mean people can’t flip scripts, either.”

If the Yankees get 100 home runs from Judge and Stanton, 55 from Sanchez and Gregorius, 40 from Gardner and Hicks and another 30 from Bird, that already gives them 225.

Next: Pitchers and catchers report today!

The most significant question remains in what unproven prospects Gleyber Torres, Miguel Andujar and even Clint Frazer can do for the Yankees. 

Even if they contribute a combined 30 home runs, that leaves the rest of the bunch to hit just 10 dingers to dethrone the Mariners’ record.

The talent Torres and Andujar replace (Chase Headley, Starlin Castro and Todd Frazier) combined to hit 39 long balls last season.