Yankees set record, hit most home runs prior to All-Star break

On Wednesday, the Yankees lived up to the high praise in terms of home runs, breaking the Seattle Mariners’ record set in 1999 for most homers before the All-Star break.

There was a lot of optimism coming into the season with the talent the Yankees were fielding.

Greg Bird’s grand slam against the Orioles on Wednesday was the team’s 152nd home run of the season and put this year’s squad in the history books.

Considering the Bombers — as well as other teams —  have had some talented and powerful lineups in the past, it’s a squad known to many as the “Baby Bombers” that now has the record.

Yes, trade rumors, especially those involving the Orioles, have taken over the headlines. And for a good reason with this already lethal and deep lineup potentially getting a heck of a lot better with Manny Machado maybe joining in on the fun before the month is over.

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What shouldn’t be overlooked, however, is the number of players that have contributed to the overall team success.

There have been 15 players to hit a home run this season with seven: Aaron Judge (25 home runs), Giancarlo Stanton (22), Aaron Hicks (16), Didi Gregorius (16), Gleyber Torres (15), Gary Sanchez (14) and Miguel Andujar (12) — already having double-digit number of round-trippers to this point.

Expect Bird (7) and Brett Gardner (8) to join that club in the near future. Heck, they may even do it by the end of the team’s current series against the Cleveland Indians with Gardner hitting one Thursday and Bird heating up at the plate lately. That would give the team a full lineup of players to reach the mark, and there’s still two-plus months of baseball to be played.

Both the 2004 Detroit Tigers and 2017 Houston Astros hold the MLB record for most players with double-digit home runs with 11.

The Yankees have a legitimate shot of at least tying the two clubs with Austin Romine (6) and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Tyler Austin (8) both well within striking distance.

That’s not to say what could happen if Clint Frazier and Brandon Drury get a fair shot in The Show and Kyle Higashioka (3) having 60 percent of his hits go for home runs. This team should undoubtedly outlast the 1997 Mariners’ record of 264 long balls hit in a season.

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There are plenty of fun storylines to follow other than team record for home runs or the number of players to hit 10 or more home runs. There’s also the fact that Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton could become just the second pair of teammates ever to hit 50 home runs in the same campaign. Powerful sluggers and juiced baseballs just seem to be more fun in the Bronx.