Saturday, April 23, 2016

Aaron Hicks Sent for MRI on Sore Shoulder


Yankees fourth outfielder Aaron Hicks is considered day-to-day with a sore left shoulder he sustained while attempting a diving catch against Tampa Bay Friday night. You can see the play here. Hicks hit the ground pretty hard and was very slow getting up. He was removed from that game in the fourth inning and was not available Saturday either. The latest news is he will be sent for an MRI to make sure there is no more permanent damage. The injury was reportedly no better after a night’s rest, which concerned the team’s staff. "We told him, see how you feel when you wake up. If you're really sore, we're going to send you for an MRI. And that's what happened," Joe Girardi told reporters.

Hicks has struggled at the plate in limited action thus far, going 2-22 in 14 games for the Yankees. That’s not to say he’s been a total disappointment. His cannon arm and flair for the dramatic catch has been a game-changer for the New York defense. Dustin Ackley will serve as the backup outfielder until the team determines the severity of Hicks’s injury. The Yankees have a number of options at Triple-A Scranton if Hicks goes down for any length of time. Slade Heathcott and Slade Heathcott are both on the 40 man roster. So is Mason Williams, but he’s recovering from his own shoulder injury.

Nick Swisher is another interesting possibility. It’s not clear that he should be considered an outfield option at this point in his career, but given Brett Gardner’s ability to backup Jacoby Ellsbury in center, it could work passably. The one advantage Swisher has is he could replace Hicks as a platoon option against lefties. The majority of New York’s Triple-A outfield options bat from the left side. Swish has a 125 wRC+ against LHP for his career and even managed a respectable 96 wRC+ against them last year despite his struggles overall.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)