Operating as the regular No. 3 hitter in the Yankee lineup, Aaron Hicks has had an uncharacteristic start to the season, piling up strikeouts in what was a tough first week of game action.
“Definitely not the start I wanted,” Hicks said during a Zoom call with reporters prior to Friday’s series opener against the Rays. “I go out there ready to compete every single day and the results just haven’t been there.”
Hicks, known for consistently being among the league leaders in working full counts and avoiding strikeouts (he walked more than he struck out last season), has already been punched out nine times in 23 plate appearances to start the season, giving a small sample size that is more than 20 percent higher than last year’s strikeout rate.
“I am not a guy to strike out like that, especially swinging outside the zone,” Hicks said. “It’s definitely something I don’t do, and I’ve been expanding the strike zone. When you do that against major league pitching, it’s not going to work out for you.”
Hicks was supposed to be a buffer between Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, and while many criticized the decision to make him the everyday third hitter, Aaron Boone has stuck with that approach since spring training. So far, Hicks has struggled to produce like a No. 3 hitter.
“Being a switch hitter is hard,” Hicks said. “Two different swings that I have to work on. Of course you want things to happen quicker than they have, but it just hasn’t been happening quite yet. But I felt good in my last game against the righty, and obviously the other day against the lefty I had a big RBI for us there, so I think things are trending in the right way.”
Hicks did pick up a big hit in Wednesday’s extra inning loss, his second straight game with an RBI, but also recorded his third multi-strikeout game in a five-game sample size. He struck out three times in each of the first two games and has totaled only three since, but those numbers are still far from Hicks’ career averages.
With Judge and Luke Voit still out of the lineup, the Yankees could use more from Hicks going forward.
“When you’re not producing, you tend to put a little stress on yourself, and that’s definitely what I’ve been doing,” Hicks said. “Last game was nice, I went out and hit the ball hard a few times, but I just want to keep things going.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
