Anybody who watched the New York Yankees in 2013 knows they did not have the powerful season we fans are used to. They had a plethora of injuries which left them grasping at straws to try and field a competitive team for most of the year. I was curious just how many home runs the Yankees left on the table as a result of all these injuries. I mean they ended up going 85-77 even with their drop in power so just imagine what they could have done with these extra dingers.
In total, the Yankees hit 144 homers in 2013 as compared to 245 (!!!!) in 2012. That's 101 fewer homers!! In the words of the illustrious Phil Rizzuto... "HOLY COW!" If that stat doesn't tell it all, I wanted to dig a little deeper and figure out just where those 101 homers went.
So first I will eliminate those players who would have played for the Yankees in their full stead even with a "fully" healthy squad. Robinson Cano, Alfonso Soriano, Travis Hafner, Vernon Wells, Ichiro Suzuki, Brett Gardner, Chris Stewart and even Jayson Nix were not really affected by injuries to themselves or others this season. Yes, I know Hafner and Nix did get hurt but Hafner's injuries were expected and Nix had about as many at bats as he should have due to injuries from other players. All in all, these players were able to amass 89 home runs in 2013. That's roughly 62% of the team's total output on the season.
I have taken a look at 4/5 of the outfield, designated hitter, second base, catcher and reserve infielder. How about first base, shortstop, third base, backup catcher and the final outfield spot?
First Base: Mark Teixeira ended up playing only 15 games and hitting 3 home runs due to his wrist problems. However, his replacement Lyle Overbay was able to do an admirable job hitting 14 bombs. However, those 17 home runs are only half of Teixeira's average of 34 during his previous four years in pinstripes. So we can say the Yankees lost about 17 home runs from first base in 2013.
Shortstop: Derek Jeter is not a home run hitter by any means but he does have some pop. Same could be said for backup Eduardo Nunez. Unfortunately both were ravaged by injuries this season and only combined for 4 home runs. The numerous reserve shortstops didn't do any better only adding one homer from the position. 5 home runs from shortstop is putrid, for any team, especially when you consider Jeter has averaged 16 home runs per 162 games during his career. So there's another 11 home runs lost.
Third Base: Alex Rodriguez played 44 games and hit 7 home runs. Nuff said. If that doesn't tell a story then I don't know what does. His also numerous backups led by Kevin Youkilis (I know, I know) and Mark Reynolds were able to add 10 dingers. A total of 17 from third base when ARod has averaged 34 homers during his Yankee career. Again like with Tex, a drop off of 17 expected home runs. However, we must also look at Youk's lost home runs to be fair. He has averaged 23 home runs during his MLB career so that's another 21 homers lost in reality. So really the Yankees lost 38 long balls from this spot.
Backup Catcher: I may be stretching here but if Francisco Cervelli did not get injured and then suspended I believe he would have added some real pop. Austin Romine and Cervelli hit 4 homers in 2013 but I believe Cervelli could have hit about 5 more if he played a full season so I'm personally just adding 5 missed homers here without much factual evidence.
Final Outfield Spot: This is a big one seeing as this spot would have belonged to Curtis Granderson. Grandy hit 7 homers in 61 games. Looking back at his last 2 seasons he has hit 43 and 41 homers. So an average of 42 which means the Yankees lost about 35 home runs from Granderson in 2013. Wow.
In total, 17 lost homers from first base, 11 from short, 38 from third, 5 from catcher and 35 from outfield... That's 106 home runs lost. The Yankees hit 144...
Add the 106 lost to the 89 they would still have had and the Yankees would have hit at least 195 long balls in 2013. This isn't taking into account the protection for certain guys and all of that stuff. My point is that the Yankees could have hit about 200 home runs and instead they hit less than 150. Injuries. Injuries. Injuries.
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