Yankees power hitting style has shown its pros and cons

Arguably baseball’s most power-oriented team, the Yankees are here for the long ball (and the long haul). With the Twin Towers of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the outfield, to go along with Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius and a handful of explosive youngsters, it’s hard to find a more dangerous offense.

But with that much power comes a lot to consider. For one, lower batting averages across the board. The Yankees do not have an active .300+ hitter, are 11th in the MLB as a team in strikeouts. They’re also ranked 21st in stolen bases. And yet the Yankees occupy second place in the American League East and the second-best record in baseball mostly due to dingers.

But do not think I am leading you blindly. Yes, the Yankees are not all that fast and therefore do not steal a ton of bases, but stealing bases are a thing of the past anyway. Teams have somewhat collectively agreed that the risk involved when stealing bases is not worth the reward. So whether by design or just coincidence, the Yankees have followed this mold.

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As for the high strikeout numbers, well, I can’t put too much of a positive spin on it. The good news is that even while starting two of the top four strikeout leaders almost everyday, as a team, the Yanks still aren’t the worst.

Most of the team has high strikeout rates and the lowest rate this season belongs to Didi Gregorius (13.4%). And yet, to some degree, the Yankees are being rewarded for it, with wins.

These wins can be seen as a result of the number of home runs and extra base hits in which the Yankees rank first and second in the majors, respectively.

Even with the excessive amount of extra-base hits coming from the Bombers, the closest thing they have to a .300+ hitter is Rookie of the Year candidate, Gleyber Torres.

Hitting .296, Torres is very close to ending this argument but is nonetheless is also hitting under .300. On top of that, the Yankees have three significant players batting UNDER .200. Talk about not hitting your weight. Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, and Neil Walker make up this exclusive club of Yankee hitters.

However, and here’s the positive spin, the Yankees still hold baseball’s tenth best batting average (.250) in spite of these three important players hitting below the Mendoza Line. Even better news is the Yankees make up for this low standard of batting average with a sense of plate discipline.

What I mean is that they take and foul off more pitches than most teams. Averaging four pitches per plate appearance, the Yanks have taken that mediocre .250 batting average and added some walks to it to give them an on-base percentage higher than 25 other MLB teams.

Numbers, numbers, numbers; what does this all mean?

The Yankees have some really good hitters this season but still have a few players who are truly hit or miss (Bird has 20 hits in 101 at-bats,12 of which are for extra bases). These few hit or miss guys can either explode for runs or get themselves out swinging for the fences.

And if you think I am exaggerating a point here, take Monday’s extra-inning loss to the Braves in which they loaded the bases in the bottom of the tenth with just one out only to not score and lose in the next inning.

OR, look at their four to three win over the Angels on April 27th which was won off a home run from Gregorius, coming in an inning in which two strikeouts occurred and a groundout.

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However, you still can’t argue with results. Though they’re far from a perfect offense these Yankees sure can produce some runs.

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