After playing in just 91 games over the previous two full seasons, Aaron Hicks came into the 2022 season looking to regain his 2018 form that saw him as one of the most valuable center fielders in the American League.
Injuries have always lingered over the 32-year-old, as his 137 games in that 2018 campaign were a career high, and one of only two seasons during his 10-year career in which he played more than 120 games.
Now, feeling healthy and comfortable, Hicks is looking to enjoy a full season of baseball, and much less interested in proving wrong any doubters that have piled up since he signed a seven-year extension with the Yankees.
“I’m just trying to go out there and play right now, and enjoy the moment, enjoy what I’m doing, and just take it day by day,” Hicks said. “Not really trying to think too much about that.”
Hicks’ long list of injuries, most recently a torn tendon sheath in his wrist that limited him to 32 games last season, have led to plenty of criticism from the fanbase, but in five games to start the 2022 season, he has hour hits in 13 at-bats, most recently a two-run blast to pace the Yanks to a 4-0 win on Tuesday night.
Hicks believes his time playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic helped him start to shed the rust after his season-ending surgery.
“Me going to play in the DR definitely helped out a lot, and to have a spring training…now playing my first couple of games, I feel good,” Hicks said.
Hicks’ career numbers don’t jump off the page (his .730 OPS is below league average), but when he is healthy and at his best, he provides New York value. He posted a 122 OPS+ in the shortened 2020 season, when he played 54 of 60 games, and had a 127 OPS+ in 2018. His eye at the plate consistently puts him among the league’s best in working 3-2 counts, but that holds a lot more value if those at-bats end with Hicks getting on base. Aside from some early struggles with runners on, Hicks has been finishing off those at-bats by getting on base, so far reaching safely in nearly half of his plate appearances.
The Yanks hope that’s a sign of things to come.
“He's just a good hitter,” DJ LeMahieu said. “He's a tough at-bat to face. He doesn’t chase pitches, he can do damage on pitches that are over the plate. When he’s in a roll and a rhythm, it seems like he’s always doing damage or getting on base, and that’s how he’s looked the last couple of games for sure.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
