Hicks sees production shifting up
BRADENTON, Fla. — For the first time during this spring training, the ban on extreme shifts did not help Aaron Hicks record a hit on Thursday.
But the Yankees left fielder, whose two hits so far likely would have been outs last year, believes it will serve him well this season as he looks to bounce back from a subpar 2022.
“It’s exciting to be able to go into the season with no shift, especially since that’s all I’m used to,” Hicks said after starting at DH and going 0-for-3 in a 9-1 win over the Pirates at LECOM Park. “There’s definitely going to be more opportunities there, especially towards the middle-right side of the field. I feel like they’re never going to play there, so that’s always going to be an option.”
The shift wasn’t Hicks’ only problem last season, but it did him no favors. He was shifted against more than any other Yankee — on 92.6 percent of his plate appearances as a left-handed hitter — during a season in which he hit just .216 with a .642 OPS overall.
Now, with infielders limited to staying on the dirt and keeping two each on either side of second base, Hicks can see daylight. He took advantage Wednesday in his first game, with a single through the right side, then drilled a single back up the middle.
“I feel like there’s a lot of pitches I couldn’t swing at [in the past] because the result would be right at them, especially right up the middle — that middle-right side,” Hicks said. “It’s 100 percent a spot where a sinker away, I’d hit that ball up the middle and somebody would be there.”
Hicks will try to use that to his advantage as he tries to win the left field job, with Oswaldo Cabrera and nonroster invites Willie Calhoun and Rafael Ortega (who homered and tripled on Thursday) also in the mix.
➤ The Yankees’ upperlevel catching depth is suddenly looking thin past their major league tandem of Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka.
With Ben Rortvedt (shoulder procedure for aneurysm) and Austin Wells (broken rib) already sidelined, manager Aaron Boone revealed on Thursday that Josh Breaux — who finished last season at Triple-A — is also dealing with an elbow issue that will shut him down from throwing “for another week or two.”
“Definitely have taken a hit, but feel like we’re OK for now,” Boone said.
Next up on the depth chart are Rodolfo Duran, Carlos Narvaez and Anthony Seigler, none of whom have played above Double-A.
With Higashioka set to leave this weekend for the WBC, Boone said the Yankees will continue to pull catchers, including Mickey Gasper, from minor league camp. ➤ Gleyber Torres was initially scheduled to play Thursday, but he was scratched from the lineup after he needed to have a tooth pulled on Wednesday afternoon. Instead, he was set to work out back at the Yankees’ complex.