One one person in the media picks up on a story, it seems like everyone runs with it. I felt not a twinge of surprise, then, when the Yankees beat writers all noted at some point or another that A-Rod is in home run drought of sorts. Specifically, he’s gone 66 at bats without a homer, quite a long drought for him. Yet, how much does it really matter?
Players slump and streak throughout a season. Mark Teixeira went through a homer drought earlier this year, and that created a media story. Yet it was just another slump. He hit poorly in that span to some degree, though he did have a .368 OBP in that span. Similarly, A-Rod is hitting .281/.352/.344 since his last game with a home run, so it’s not all bad. It’s just a little loss of power.
Since Teixeira hit that homer that broke the drought, he’s hit .310/.367/.630. A-Rod could be poised for just that kind of run once he hits another one out of the park. Things will only get better from there. Which is crazy, because the Yanks are 12-5 since A-Rod last hit a home run in the finale of the Tigers series. Even crazier, they’ve averaged over six runs per game in that span. Without A-Rod hitting balls out of the park, and generally not hitting for much power.
If the Yanks offense can thrive while Alex Rodriguez is in a mini-slump (and he still has a .885 OPS over the past week), imagine how they’ll far when he’s streaking again.