#Yankees’ Aaron Hicks admits his arm sometimes ‘sucks’
“#Yankees’ Aaron Hicks admits his arm sometimes ‘sucks’”
Talking before the Yankees won the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader 8-4 over the Rays at Tropicana Field, Hicks, who was not in the starting lineup, was asked about his arm.
While he described it as “really good’’ Hicks said there are times when “every now and then it sucks.”
Asked to explain the latter remark, Hicks was clear.
“It doesn’t come out like I want it to. I’ll throw a bunch of balls and I would say 90 percent of them are coming pretty good and going exactly where I want them to go and coming out with really good [velocity] and then some it doesn’t want to cooperate with me,’’ Hicks said. “But I hear it is kind of one of those normal things recovering from Tommy John.’’
According to Hicks, an arm problem wasn’t the reason the switch-hitter was out of the lineup for Saturday’s first game.
“My arm is completely fine. I don’t know why I am not playing today,’’ said Hicks, who said he expected to be in Aaron Boone’s lineup for the nightcap.
Boone had Brett Gardner in center and Mike Tauchman in left against Rays right-hander Tyler Glasnow in the first game.
Hicks knows when the hinge isn’t going to feel its best.
“I would probably say I kind of have to warm up through it. I would say it is normally my first couple of throws of getting back into the inning is where it starts,’’ Hicks said. “When I am warmed up I normally feel pretty good, but the later and later it gets during innings and stuff like that it starts … I kind of feel it gets cold, if that makes sense.’’
As for cold, that would also describe Hicks’ bat, and he wasn’t alone in the Yankees’ hitting freezer.
Hicks took a seat entering the opener batting .188 (6-for-32) with a homer, three RBIs and a .710 OPS in 11 games. He was hitting .214 (6-for-28) with a .764 OPS against right-handers and was hitless in four at-bats versus lefties.
Gary Sanchez was 3-for-33 (.091) with a .401 OPS when he caught Gerrit Cole in the first game. Shortstop Gleyber Torres was hitting .119 (5-for-42) with a .368 OPS and hitless in 21 at-bats when he singled in the second inning of the first game. In the previous seven games, Giancarlo Stanton was hitting .095 (2-for-21) with a .439 OPS and had whiffed seven times. He led off the second with a single to center in the first game.
The Yankees placed backup catcher Kyle Higashioka on the 10-day IL with a strained right oblique and replaced him with Erik Kratz. Had Chris Iannetta reported to the Yankees’ alternate site when he was outrighted on Aug. 4 he might have gotten the call to back up Sanchez. Iannetta didn’t report and was placed on the restricted list.
Aaron Boone didn’t want to get into the reason why Iannetta was on that list. A report out Saturday said Iannetta was retiring. Iannetta was on the 30-man roster and designated for assignment on Aug. 1
“No. I will leave it at that right now,’’ when asked why Iannetta was on the restricted list.
As for Higashioka, Boone hopes the Yankees aren’t looking at a lengthy stay on the IL. Higashioka is slated for an MRI on Monday.
“I knew he was having a little bit of an issue with it Thursday and then thought it was something he thought he could work through and then [Friday] it was a little tighter than we were comfortable going with as a hitter,’’ Boone said of Higashioka, who played in three games and went 2-for-9 (.222). “Hopefully we got a little bit ahead of it and we will see how the next couple of days go.’’
According to Boone, there wasn’t a specific incident that caused the oblique problem.
As for the 40-year-old Kratz this is his third stint with the Yankees’ organization. He has played for nine big-league teams in a 10-year career. Kratz was eligible to be put on the roster since he was on the Yankees’ taxi squad since Thursday night in Philadelphia.
“Obviously we needed a catcher and [Kratz] is the next guy up. [Kratz] is really good behind the plate. Really good commanding a pitching staff, running a game and has a ton of experience,’’ Boone said. “Very comfortable with Erik coming in and being able to be a contributor.’’
Yankees recalled infielder Thairo Estrada from the alternate-site facility and designated reliever Nick Tropeano for assignment. They also added pitcher Albert Abreu as the “29th man’’ for Saturday’s doubleheader.
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