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A few days ago, we took a look at the Yankees pitchers who are approaching franchise and MLB records this year. Now let’s turn our attention to the position players who could achieve some big milestones in 2019.
Aaron Judge
The 2018 season was a disappointing one for Judge, at least from the perspective that he missed nearly two months with a fractured wrist. Had he stayed healthy, he might have reached the 100-home run mark during just his second full season in the majors. The All-Star outfielder has 83 right now, and just needs 33 more dingers to pass Curtis Granderson on the Yankees’ all-time list.
Giancarlo Stanton
The Yankees’ other big outfielder is rapidly climbing the all-time home runs leaderboard. He currently has 305 career homers, and this season we’ll see him crack the top-100 list and move into Jose Bautista-range (344). Granted, Bautista will probably be able to stay ahead of him, but it is amusing considering that the former Blue Jay is nearly ten years Stanton’s senior.
Brett Gardner
There was a chance that Gardner wouldn’t return in 2019, but the Yankees brought him back on a one-year deal. As long as he gets enough playing time, the longtime Yankee will hit his 100th career home run this season. He has 96 right now. Gardner already sits in third place for franchise stolen bases with 257, but certainly won’t be able to catch Rickey Henderson (326). The best he can do is create more distance between himself and Willie Randolph. He just needs 15 more games to pass Robinson Cano on the franchise list with 1,375. Gardy will likely pass both Paul O’Neill and Don Mattingly and record his 600th walk in pinstripes, too.
Miguel Andujar
Andujar remarkably hit 47 doubles in 2018, breaking Joe DiMaggio’s 1936 rookie record. Assuming that he a) stays a Yankee and b) gets regular playing time, the third baseman could go on a tear and notch his 100th double in 2019. He did hit those 47 doubles through just 149 games, after all.
Jacoby Ellsbury
It almost seems like Ellsbury never existed at all, but he is still a Yankee. He will be for the foreseeable future, too. If he somehow manages to stay healthy and sneaks his way onto the 25-man roster, we can pretty much count on him increasing his lead on the all-time catcher’s interference list. He passed Pete Rose for the number one spot in 2017 with 30.