Hicks out with oblique strain, injury news still bleak
The Yankees are doing their best Mets impression and can’t seem to stay healthy. Aaron Hicks became the latest Bomber to fall victim to injury Sunday at the Stadium, straining his oblique in a 7-6 loss to the Rangers.
Hicks said after the game he is headed to the disabled list. He underwent an MRI during the game, and doctors informed him he would need three to four weeks to recover.
“I’m going to do my best to get (back) before then,” Hicks said at his locker with bandages wrapped around his lower abdomen.
Hicks first felt the twinge underneath his right rib cage on a check swing in his first at-bat Sunday. He later flew out to left field.
The 27-year-old outfielder then tried to play through the pain. But in his next atbat in the third inning, Hicks aggravated the strain further when he singled on a line drive to center field.
“That’s when I really felt it,” Hicks said of the third-inning swing.
Hicks stayed in the game for the fourth inning and made a leaping, running grab on a long fly ball in center field in the top half. He departed at the end of the fourth inning.
With Jacoby Ellsbury out for the past month because of a concussion, Hicks has
firmly grasped the starting spot in center field for the Yankees. He’s hitting .290 with 10 homers, 37 RBI and a .912 OPS on the season. The oblique injury now puts a pause on his breakout season.
“It’s very frustrating,” Hicks said. “I want to be out there battling with my team, and now I can’t do it.”
Ellsbury went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI in his second rehab game Sunday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Joe Girardi said “it’s possible” the Yankees will bring Ellsbury back sooner to take Hicks’ roster spot.
“I’ll let them decide,” Ellsbury said after Sunday’s game, according to the Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre. “But I’ll let them know everything went well today.”
HOLLIDAY MYSTERY
Matt Holliday still isn’t fully recovered from an allergic reaction he experienced just over a week ago in Oakland, and for that reason, he sat out the Yankees’ loss Sunday.
“It’s not to where it was (in Oakland),” Girardi said of Holliday’s illness. “But it hasn’t completely went away. … There’s a concern. We got to figure out what’s going on here.”
Girardi said Holliday will “probably” undergo testing to determine the nature of the issue. The Yankees start a seven-game road trip Monday night at the White Sox.
“I hope to have him back in the lineup tomorrow,” Girardi said Sunday. “But again, it’s kind of up to our doctors and what they think.”
THE WORD ON BIRD
First baseman Greg Bird (right ankle bruise) ran on the field at the Stadium Sunday, and Girardi said it was an “encouraging” step.
Bird received a cortisone shot in his ankle earlier in the week. Girardi didn’t offer a set plan for when Bird will begin playing rehab games again. He played 12 rehab contests earlier this month before experiencing a setback and being shut down. Bird has been on the DL since May 2.
“Hopefully we can get him back on rehab and get him going,” Girardi said. “I have not talked to (trainer Steve Donohue), but I wouldn’t think that we would take a long time.”
CC MAKES STRIDES
Lefthander CC Sabathia — who’s been on the disabled list since June 14 with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain — threw a full bullpen Sunday, according to Girardi.
The tentative next step is for Sabathia to pitch in a simulated game.
“He’s progressing very, very well,” Girardi said. …Starlin Castro received a cortisone shot in his right wrist Saturday and sat out Sunday’s game. He expects to return to the lineup Monday in Chicago.