HICKS IN MIX
Cashman says Aaron deserves All-Star look
With the date of Jacoby Ellsbury’s return from the disabled list unknown, Aaron Hicks has more than filled the vacancy in center field. To the point general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday that Hicks should get consideration for an All-Star spot.
“Hicks has shown the league enough that he could be an All-Star,’’ Cashman said prior to the Yankees’ 9-1 win over the Red Sox at the Stadium.
The Yankees entered Thursday night’s action 6-6 with Hicks in center. The pedestrian ledger was certainly not the 27-year-old switch hitter’s fault since he was hitting .390 with 11 RBIs, a .449 onbase percentage and a .986 OPS.
Hitting second for the second straight game, Hicks went 1-for-5 and scored a run.
The 12-game stretch vaulted Hicks into eighth place among AL hitters with a .319 average going into Thursday night’s action. Hicks was two percentage points short of team leader Aaron Judge, the leading All-Star vote-getter among AL players. Hicks’ .433 onbase percentage was second to the injured Mike Trout and his .563 slugging was seventh.
Girardi left the door open to push Masahiro Tanaka back a day.
Scheduled to face the Orioles on Sunday at Yankee Stadium, holding the struggling right-hander back a day and have him open a three-game series against the Angels in Anaheim on Monday night is a possibility.
Since the Orioles have seen Tanaka twice this season and the Angels haven’t could play a role in Girardi’s thinking. Tanaka is 0-1 with a 8.44 ERA in two starts against the O’s.
Greg Bird (bruised right ankle) moved from Single-A Tampa to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-- Barre on Thursday night when he went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks. While being closer to the big leagues is a step, there isn’t a definitive plan to activate the first baseman from the DL.
“I don’t have a time frame for Bird,’’ Cashman said. “He will join us or get optioned.’’
With a 9-1 lead, two outs and the bases empty in the ninth, Girardi called for closer Dellin Be
tances to get him work because he hadn’t pitched since Saturday.
“Worst decision I made today,’’ Girardi said. “You can’t expect him to be sharp if he doesn’t pitch. We told him ‘You have to pitch to one hitter.’ It was a Catch-22.”
Betances issued two walks, struck out two and fired a wild pitch.
Betances threw 17 pitches and Girardi said there was a chance he could use Betances for all three games this weekend against the Orioles.
Aaron Judge’s single to center in the sixth inning was clocked at 119.8 mph. According to MLB Statcast, that’s the hardest-hit ball in the majors this season.
Aroldis Chapman will travel to Tampa on Friday and could make a minor league rehab appearance this weekend. Earlier this week the left-handed closer said he was shooting to come off the DL in time to face the A’s in Oakland. The Yankees open a four-game series against the A’s next Thursday.
Chapman has been on the DL with rotator cuff inflammation of the left shoulder.