Yankee fans everywhere (Larry and myself included) have paid a lot of attention to Alex Rodriguez‘s and Mark Teixeira‘s lack of power in 2010. A-Rod has less than 10 homers on the season so far, and Brett Gardner is out-slugging Tex. Their struggles deserve attention. What hasn’t gotten as much attention so far, in the Yankee blogosphere at least, is that many of baseball’s brand names are not hitting for the same power this year.
These are the current home run leaders in either league:
In the AL, Miguel Cabrera and Josh Hamilton are household names (maybe), but the rest are some real head-scratchers, especially league leader Jose Bautista (BALCO All-Star alert?). The NL is no different. Perennial best player in baseball Albert Pujols isn’t even in the top 5 right now this year. Ryan Howard is missing. So is Prince Fielder.
To put the change taking place in baseball’s home run hierarchy into perspective, here’s the list of last year’s leaders:
The NL leaders in particular read as a who’s-who of baseball’s biggest sluggers. Only Adrian Gonzalez and Mark Reynolds make the cut this season.
Here’s a list of players, all of them big names, who haven’t hit the ball with the same authority this year:
It’s depressing to see that Tex and A-Rod have seen the sharpest decline from their career power numbers, but, to the extent that misery loves company, they’re not alone on that list. Many of baseball’s biggest names have suffered from an unforseen power outage this year.
Jason Bay only has 4 homers so far this year. Joe Mauer has totally dropped off from his MVP form. He’s batting only .309 and has only 3 bombs after hitting 28 in limited duty in 2009. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder combined for the deadliest 3-4 punch in the NL last season. This year Nick Swisher is out-slugging both of them.
Aside from Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols is the biggest name on the list. Make no mistake, Phat Albert is having a great season. He’s on pace for 30 homers and 100 RBI. His OBP is .428. But his power numbers are down, materially. The difference between a hitter with a .624 SLG and a .549 is the difference between a player competing to be the best hitter in baseball, and one who’s in the top ten.
None of this excuses Alex and Tex. The only reason the Yankees have a 2 game lead on the division, instead of a 10-game lead, is because these two are having bad seasons. But they’re not alone. Many of baseball’s biggest names have been knocked down a peg or two thus far in 2010.
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3 Responses to Baseball’s missing power stroke
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TIQ IQ
There is no logic in mitigating what A-Rod and Tex have not done. It is always possible to complie a list of a few significant under-performers halfway through a season, as you did. In this case, your list includes Bay who went from a good hitter's park to a bad one; and Mauer who is coming off perhaps the best offensive stat year of any catcher in history. For this guys, some drop off seems inevitable.
With Tex, it's more a case of low BA (can't break .230), and not so much a lack of power. With A-Rod, it's some drop in BA, but power going off a cliff.
Tex probably "averages" about 32 HR's per season, and about 44.4% of the season is done. Taking 44.4% of the "average" projects back to about 17 HR's, and he has 12, about 2/3 his standard production.
A-Rod probably averages about 40 HR's. Taking 44.4% of that, is about 18 HR's. He has 9. That is about 1/2 of his standard production.
The last few games Tex has hit some long fly ball outs. A-Rod is hitting an inordinate amount of grounders. Yankee fans ought to be more concerned about A-Rod now, then when his problem was only not hitting in the playoffs.
I in no way mean to take A-Rod or Tex off the hook. They're not performing. If they were, the Yankees would be steam rolling.
I've felt for a while that the power numbers were down in both leagues. This post was meant to highlight that our guys are not the only big names hitting fewer homers.
I should have included power numbers at the aggregate level. It would have helped my cause.
I'm actually more worried about Tex. He is hitting more home runs than Alex, but not much else. His overall production has suffered as a result.
Alex isn't hitting homers, but I feel that he could get hot, hit a bunch of doubles, and have respectable numbers in other ways.
Nothing excuses these two, but there are a handful of really big names underperforming this season.
There are a handful, and are always a handful.
There ought to be more concern about A-Rod, because of age and injuries. In my eye, Tex is not a "complete" hitter anyway. He crushes mistake fastballs, but can look really bad against off-speed and curveballs. He can be pitched to.
I have seen probably 30 Yankee games. A-Rod seems to be chasing too many bad pitches and hitting too many ground balls. But those are symptoms, not causes.
I have always been amazed by how quickly A-Rod turns his hips. Makes you forget how big he is. (Have any idea how much he outweighs the guys he hasn't passed yet on the HR list like Mays and Aaron)? I just don't see that same snap. Maybe he changed his swing on purpose? And maybe I'm nuts.
Weren't the reports last year that A Rod's hip surgery was not the "full" treatment, but only partial? Isn't the condition he had/has related to arthritis?