Overall, Aaron Hicks has had a solid start to the season at the plate, just missing a home run in Thursday’s series finale against the Tigers, but still holding a .270 batting average and .378 OBP on the season.
With runners in scoring position, it’s a different story.
Hicks came up with a golden opportunity to tie the game in the top of the eighth after the Yanks put runners at the corners with nobody out, but he popped out and the Bombers came up empty once again, getting shut out for the third time already in 2022.
“It’s extremely frustrating, especially in that situation with no outs,” Hicks said. “I’m supposed to at least get the guy over, or in.”
For Hicks, he has just one hit in 13 plate appearances with runners in scoring position this season, while the team as a whole has been equally terrible. The start of the 2022 campaign is playing out like a nightmare repeating itself following the 2021 team’s issues to cash in with runners on, and Hicks doesn’t have an answer for why the entire team can’t seem to buy a big hit.
“I really don’t know,” Hicks said. “I know for myself, I feel like I’m putting a little too much pressure on myself, trying to get the job done…just making bad swing decisions on what exactly I want to do in the situation.”
Hicks believes that self-induced pressure can be a team-wide concern, resulting in the putrid offensive showing the team put together on this recent road trip, which was supposed to be a chance to dominate against inferior teams like the Orioles and Tigers.
“Yeah, especially at the start of the season, you want to start off hot and drive guys in, and it hasn’t been happening,” Hicks said.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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