With Aaron Hicks down for “months” at the very least, the Yankees will once again need to rely on Brett Gardner in an everyday role after bringing him back to be a backup option.
Hicks, who will have wrist surgery in the coming days that could keep him out the rest of the season, the Yanks will be hoping to get whatever they can out of the 37-year-old Gardner the rest of the way, especially while Clint Frazier is nursing a stiff neck and Aaron Judge’s time in the outfield is being kept to a minimum to maximize his health.
After a brutal start to the season, Gardner’s bat has begun to show signs of life, fittingly beginning right around the time Hicks went down. Over his last six games, Gardner has picked up eight hits in 21 at-bats, accounting for over a third of his hits all season. Two of those hits have been for extra bases, as he has posted an OPS near .1000 in that span.
“I think my timing has been better and my work behind the scenes has been better and more consistent,” Gardner said. “I’ve felt good all season. I felt good in spring and in April even though the results weren’t there. but I’ve felt healthy the whole time. It’s just a matter of getting in a grove and building a little confidence and continuing to build off that.”
In the past week, Gardner has raised his batting average from a lowly .171 to .216, and while there’s a ways to go to push that mark to a more respectable number, the veteran feels his outcomes are finally starting to reflect how he’s felt at the plate.
The challenge for Gardner and the Yanks will be to try and maintain that production, especially now with Gardner not being able to afford as much rest with so many injuries in the outfield. With the Yankees trading Mike Tauchman earlier in the season and a call-up for Estevan Florial being “not imminent,” per Boone, the team will likely ride with Gardner in center field for the foreseeable future. While Gardner has played in left field more than double his time in center throughout his 14-year career, he feels center suits him more and has no worries of a defensive dropoff.
“I feel good. I feel more comfortable there than I do in left, to be honest,” Gardner said. “I feel perfectly fine over there and see the ball good off the bat. It’s just a matter of continuing to work, put myself in a good position to continue to contribute and stay healthy.”
The Yankee offense was struggling as a group before the injury wave hit, and the starting rotation can’t be expected to be this dominant for an entire season. The bats will eventually need to live up to their preceding reputations, but getting continued contributions from Gardner, in yet another year of being tasked with taking on a more regular role due to injuries, would be a big boost for the Yanks.
“With [Hicks] going down for a little while,” Gardner said. “The team needs me and other guys to step up more than ever.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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