Monday night was a night to forget for Aaron Hicks, in a season that has been largely one to forget.
The Yankee outfielder’s nightmare 2022 campaign hit a new low when he got turned around three different times while trying to track down one fly ball, leading to Gerrit Cole’s only run allowed on the night, and shortly after, Hicks grounded back to the pitcher for a 1-2-3 double play with the bases loaded to spoil a precious rally for a Yankee team that currently can’t buy a run.
“First off, I turned the wrong way and tried to recover, ended up thinking it was still over right on top of me and ended up being on top of me,” Hicks explained. “By then I was already beat by the ball. That was a run Gerrit shouldn’t have had to deal with.”
Hicks’ double play was his fourth of the season with the bases loaded, more than any other hitter in the league.
“Extremely frustrating,” Hicks said. “Second inning, guy on first and second, ended up striking out and not getting the job done, then come back up, bases loaded, trying to stay short and hit the ball up the middle, ended up cueing the ball right back to the pitcher. Overall, just extremely embarrassing honestly.
“If I’m not hitting I still want my defense to be on point, and I messed up out there as well.”
Hicks’ batting average has dropped to .218 on the season with a .644 OPS, but with newly-acquired Harrison Bader still on the IL with plantar fasciitis, it seems like the Yanks may have to wait for Hicks to figure things out, though there hasn’t been signs of that since the start of last season.
“I don’t know. I’m putting the work in and trying my best to compete every single day,” Hicks said. “Everything I’m doing is not showing up results wise…just overall disappointing.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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