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New Bronx Bombers: Yankees set MLB, franchise HR records with Luke Voit shot

jason owens
Staff writer
Luke Voit’s second-inning blast set a new MLB mark while breaking a Yankees record for most home runs in team history. (AP)
Luke Voit’s second-inning blast set a new MLB mark while breaking a Yankees record for most home runs in team history. (AP)

Credit the short porch in right field at Yankees Stadium. Chalk it up to the home-run heavy era of modern baseball.

Either way, there’s no denying the prodigious power of these New York Yankees.

Luke Voit’s power surge helps set MLB record

Luke Voit’s second-inning shot against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday set a pair of home run milestones — one for the Yankees and one for MLB.

With Voit’s two-run homer, the Yankees became the first team in MLB history to have 12 players with 10 or more home runs in one season.

Voit joins Austin Romine, Greg Bird, Gleyber Torres, Didi Gregorius, Miguel Andujar, Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Neil Walker and Gary Sanchez with a double-digit home run tally.

Voit has been a boon to the Yankees since joining the team midseason via trade after spending most the year with the St. Louis Cardinals’ Triple-A squad. In 29 games before Thursday, Voit was hitting .323 with nine home runs and 20 RBI while tallying a 1.034 OPS with New York.

In a testament to the home-run happy trend of 2018 baseball, the Yankees new MLB mark comes one night after the Dodgers set a record with a seventh player hitting 20 home runs.

Most HRs in Yankees history — MLB mark next?

Perhaps even more impressive than New York’s new MLB mark, Voit’s home run was the 246th this season for the Yankees, setting a new team record for a franchise with more than its fair share of power-laden lineups.

The home run breaks the previous mark held by the 2012 Yankees, who hit 245 home runs. These Yankees have 10 more games to play after Thursday.

The total puts the Yankees in earshot of the MLB record held by the 1997 Seattle Mariners. That loaded lineup powered by Ken Griffey, Jr., Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner and a young Alex Rodriguez tallied 264 home runs.

Hitting 20 home runs in 10 games is no easy feat and will require a prolific power surge in the stretch run of the season. But if there’s any team in 2018 that can do it, it’s the Yankees.

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