Struggling Hicks moved to No. 9 spot in order,
CHICAGO — Aaron Hicks needed one. The Yankees center fielder had been struggling going into Friday night’s game, on a 2-for-30 slide. In his first at-bat of the night, Hicks doubled and drove in a run in the Yankees’ 10-4 win over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
It was Hicks’ first extra base hit since April 12, when he homered. He finished the night 1-for-4.
Hicks found himself dropped to the No. 9 spot in the lineup for the first time since 2017.
Aaron Boone said it wasn’t punishment or taking the pressure off the struggling outfielder.
Instead, he sees his on-base percentage as something they can take advantage up while he finds his power. Hicks is among the best in the league in drawing walks with an 18% walk rate.
“The one thing Aaron’s doing really well right now still getting on base and to have that on-base presence on the nine hole is something that I value and can kind of serve as a double leadoff hitter,” Boone said.
Over the last 10 games, the center fielder is 2-for-30 or .067/.263/.067. Overall, he’s hitting .215/.364/.253 with a .617 OPS, the second lowest of his career.
After just one start in the minors, Clarke Schmidt was back with the Yankees on Friday. The righthander took the spot left after the Yankees optioned spot starter Luis Gil back to Triple-A.
Schmidt began the season with the Yankees, made four appearances and pitched to a 1.08 ERA with eight strikeouts over 8.1 innings pitched. He was sent to Triple-A on May 1 when the rosters were cut down from 28 to 26. The plan at the time was to stretch him out as a starter.
He went 2.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out three in his only start.
“I mean, it’s tough. It’s a little bit of an environmental change. But yeah, it was good to get my pitch count up. That was my main goal going down there was to kind of build that pitch count up for a start,” Schmidt said. “And so I did like close to 50 (pitches) in my last start, so I mean, I would assume
I’m available for around 70 or 80, whenever needed. So yeah, it’s very good to get that in.”
Gil gave the Yankees four innings Thursday night, but the Bombers had to send him back to replenish their bullpen with Schmidt.
“He’s got some length still built up, not the full starters build up, but he’s a guy that can give us some innings out in the bullpen,” Boone said. “He has thrown the ball really well for us when he was here and in his outings so he’s the guy that when we go to him, we have a lot of confidence in him and like where he’s at in the season.”