Well, on the bright side, at least no one could accuse the Yankees of hitting too many home runs yesterday.
It’s just one game. Just one 8-2 loss to the rival Red Sox on Opening Day, a taut contest turned sleeper during which, fittingly, the conditions changed from sunshine to clouds to a driving rain that virtually emptied Yankee Stadium by the final out.
Just one game in which the Yankees validated the worst-case projection: Between injuries and departures, their April offense looks like it can barely compete. And we aren’t sure when the reinforcements are arriving.
“As far as having a different type of lineup, yes, we are a different type of lineup, no doubt about that,” Joe Girardi said after the game. “We’re not a club that is going to hit home runs. We’re going to have to score runs other ways, and we did other things in spring training, and we’ll continue to do it.
“We had some guys come in late, and I think I have a pretty good idea what they’re capable of. And we’ll go from there.”
Are you familiar with the story of the 1965 Yankees? General manager Ralph Houk asked reporters, “Do you really think [Mickey] Mantle won’t hit, that [Elston] Howard won’t hit, that [Roger] Maris won’t hit?” It turned out that, after that trio posted spectacular 1964 campaigns, Howard didn’t hit, Maris barely played due to injuries and Mantle, while still putting up strong numbers, dropped off dramatically.
These current Yankees face an inverted dilemma. Based on their recent seasons, do you really think that Vernon Wells will hit, that Travis Hafner will stay healthy, that Lyle Overbay will provide any value whatsoever?
That’s why it’s critical for the Yankees to pitch well during this stretch of indeterminate length — you already know Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira all reside on the disabled list — and neither starter CC Sabathia nor relievers David Phelps and Joba Chamberlain did so. That’s why, too, it will be essential for the Yankees to hit well with men on base, because they will have fewer such opportunities, and they went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“We just didn’t have timely hitting,” said Kevin Youkilis, who went 1-for-4 in his Yankees debut. “We need to get that the next time around.”
The lineup against Boston lefty starter Jon Lester featured Eduardo Nunez hitting second, Wells fifth, Ben Francisco sixth and Jayson Nix eighth. Yeesh.
Girardi said he wanted to break up his left-handed hitters against Lester, which is why Nunez hit second and Ichiro Suzuki seventh. Ichiro easily could join Brett Gardner and Robinson Cano atop the order tomorrow night against Red Sox righty starter Clay Buchholz.
Nunez was awful, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Nix looked at a Lester third strike in the fourth, with one out and the bases loaded. The biggest hit of the game came from ninth hitter Francisco Cervelli, who followed Nix with a two-run single to left field and later started the seventh inning with a walk. Cervelli owns a modest history of getting on base. He should probably hit higher than ninth.
Gardner, who looked good leading off, followed Cervelli’s free pass with one of his own against Red Sox lefty reliever Andrew Miller. Down 5-2 with the alleged heart of their order coming up, the Yankees fans theoretically had reason for optimism.
Except Nunez struck out looking and Robinson Cano and Kevin Youkilis (against righty Andrew Bailey) both whiffed swinging. Rally doused. Game over, pretty much.
“That’s part of the game. Nobody wants to strike out,” said Cano, who went 1-for-4 with a single and a long flyout that Sox rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. snared on the left-field warning track. “First game, just put this game behind and get ready for [tomorrow].”
We’re all monitoring Cano to see what kind of pitches he gets to hit and how many bad pitches he chases. He displayed one bad swing-and-miss, yet such scrutiny underlines the bigger problem: Whom else can the Yankees count on to deliver for now?
“I don’t think we expected to be 162-0,” said Wells, who went 0-for-3 with a walk in his Yankees debut.
Definitely not. It’s just one game. But what can you reasonably expect from this ragtag group of hitters, especially with only Granderson having so much as a vague return date (early May)?
For openers, you sure as heck won’t expect an annoying abundance of homers. You’ve got that going for you.
kdavidoff@nypost.com