Maybe it is the torpedo bats. Or maybe it is the fact they are the New York Yankees and just simply have a lot of good, high-priced players. Or perhaps it is just a small sample size in the early part of the season. It could be a combination of all three factors.
Whatever it is, the Yankees are clubbing home runs at a pace to open this season that has never been seen before in Major League Baseball.
With two more home runs on Saturday — both by outfielder Trent Grisham — in a 10-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, they are now up to 25 home runs through their first eight games. That is not only the most home runs ever hit by a team through the first eight games of the season, it is two more than the next closest team.
The previous high-mark through eight games belonged to the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals with 23 home runs. Only seven teams in Major League history (going back to 1901) have hit at least 20 through their first eight games.
Entering play on Saturday, the team with the second-most home runs in the league this season is the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers who had hit 19 home runs but had also already played in nine games.
The Chicago Cubs, having played in 10 games, were third with 14 home runs.
Reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge is leading the way having already hit six home runs, but it is not just him hitting the ball out of the park. Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm — two players using the torpedo bats — both have four, while Grisham is already up to three.
Judge’s six home runs were more than seven entire teams entering play on Saturday, and as many as three others.
There are two teams in the league — Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays — that entered the day having only hit three home runs for the season.
Their 72 runs through Saturday are also — by far — the most in baseball and nine more than the next closest team. That second-place team is the aforementioned Cubs team that has already played two additional games.
It is going to be a fascinating season to watch unfold. The Yankees were obviously disappointed to lose out on re-signing Juan Soto, and it is still a reality that stings the fans. But the Yankees were able to spread that money around the roster and the early returns through the first three series have been extremely promising.
