Hicks to DL; Judge may play in center
TORONTO — Just two days into the season and the Yankees are already down a pair of starters, with Aaron Hicks joining Greg Bird on the disabled list with an intercostal strain suffered during Thursday’s win over the Blue Jays.
With Hicks placed on the 10day DL on Friday, the Yankees recalled 23-year-old Billy McKinney from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Though McKinney started in left field in Friday’s 4-2 win over the Blue Jays — with Brett Gardner sliding from left to center and Giancarlo Stanton remaining the DH — Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone acknowledged Aaron Judge was a candidate to play some center. “It’s more of a possibility now than it was,” Cashman said of Judge, who worked out there this spring and played the position at Fresno State.
“It’s just moving a little bit in the field,” Judge said after the win. “There’s more ground to cover in center, but the reads are easier. I’ll be comfortable.”
Judge indicated it would take an “emergency” for him to start there, but Boone noted he doesn’t want to overwork Gardner, especially on the turf at Rogers Centre.
“I don’t want to run him into the ground,’’ the manager said. “We are obviously in a situation of need right now. … We have to think big picture on this. I would say Aaron is a possibility.’’
Without Hicks, the oncecrowded Yankees outfield looks sparse. He joins Jacoby Ellsbury (oblique) and Clint Frazier (concussion) on the disabled list.
Ellsbury is rehabbing in Tampa and is eligible to come off the DL Thursday, which the Yankees general manager didn’t rule out.
“This will necessitate taking him when he’s physically ready and maybe not totally finished off [at the plate],” Cashman said of Ellsbury, who is playing in minor league games in Tampa, but has not played nine innings or on back-to-back days. “We’ll see him sooner than later given what’s happened up here.”
Hicks had two singles in the victory Thursday and said he felt something during his last two at-bats.
He underwent an MRI exam that showed a Grade 1 strain and will be shut down for at least three days, though Hicks is optimistic he will be able to return when the DL stint is up.
After being sidelined twice by oblique injuries last season, Hicks revamped his offseason workout program to avoid losing time to injury. He insisted this injury was mild compared to each of those.
“It’s frustrating to spend the whole offseason trying to prevent stuff like this and now it happens,’’ Hicks said. “But it’s not 40 games like last year [when] I felt pain from the get-go. It really hurt. I wasn’t able to do anything. Right now it feels good.’’
Boone said he believes the Yankees will be able to withstand the absence, despite their lack of depth in the outfield.
“It’s a blow, but one we feel we can handle,” Boone said. “We are hoping it’s a shortterm kind of thing.’’