With each solo-shot that Curtis Granderson hits, and there has been many this year, he seems to inch closer and closer to an unflattering MLB record.
Granderson, who has homered in each of his last three starts, now finds himself with 25 homers on the season. To go along with the homers though he has just 45 RBI. Twenty-one of the 25 home runs that the Grandy-man has hit have been with no one on base, incredible to believe.
“It’s still runs being scored,” Granderson said. “I’ve never seen it as a bad thing, so it’s always interesting that people will bring it up, saying, ‘Are you guys going to do something else to score runs?’ Well, you’ve scored runs. … No one is disappointed by it.” (NY Post)
The record in question that he currently flirts with is that of one with the lowest RBI total with 25 or more homers. The current record is held by Ron Gant, the former Atlanta Brave and Joc Pederson of the LA Dodgers who in 2000 and 2015 respectively each had 26 homers to go along with 54 RBI.
It has been a down season for Granderson as he hits to a .225/.317/.445 slash line. He though has seen some recent success as in the last seven games he has hit to a .250/.367/.667 slash to go along with three homers and seven RBI. His recent surge of power has given Terry Collins someone to protect Yoenis Cespedes in the lineup.
“When he starts producing runs, you can’t just keep pitching around [Yoenis] Cespedes,” Collins said. “They’ve got to give Cespedes something to hit. It makes a big difference.”
If Granderson continues his recent upswing, which has come at just the right time for this team, it makes the lineup that much more dangerous. Curtis was the catalyst for this team in 2015 at the top of the batting order and now finds himself in a completely different position this season. He though has finally seemed to find his proper place in the lineup and producing as needed for a team who sorely missed his production.
