(Audacy) White Sox reliever Joe Kelly noticed Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks was pressing, so he made him pay.
During the White Sox’s 5-0 win over the Yankees on Sunday in the opener of a doubleheader, Kelly was on the mound in the bottom of the seventh with Hicks on second and Chicago up 1-0. Hicks got a really aggressive lead, and Kelly, who already was set, stepped off and picked Hicks off with ease.
Immediately after the tag was placed, Kelly started walking toward second and started shouting at Hicks.
Never one to hide from conflict, Kelly shared what he told Hicks during an appearance on the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Monday afternoon.
“He tried to go outside the box and make something happen to totally redeem himself, and then it kind of backfired,” Kelly said of Hicks, who has been hugely underperforming this season. “So I was coming set, (Josh Harrison) was like ‘Step off, step off,’ and I was like, 'Oh.'
“So then I turn and I throw, and I beat him by a mile,” Kelly added. “I could see Aaron’s face just demoralized. So I was like ‘That a baby, Aaron. What the f— are you doing?' I said, 'Way to go, you’re such a stud, that a baby.' And I just let it rip because it was the dumbest s— ever, you know what I mean? Just play your game, don’t press.”
Indeed, that gaffe was emblematic of the season that Hicks has had thus far.
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