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Author: Neil Keefe

Blogs • Yankees

Feb 26, 2021

Aaron Hicks Should Be Focused on Staying Healthy, Not Hitting Home Runs

As a Yankee, Aaron Hicks has only played in 461 of a possible 870 regular-season games or 53 percent over six seasons. So why is he so worried about how many home runs he’s going to hit in 2021?

It’s no secret I have been critical of Aaron Hicks as a Yankee. It mostly doesn’t have to do with his production (except for every postseason series over the last four years that wasn’t the 2017 ALDS or 2020 ALDS). I know I complain a lot about Hicks batting third against right-handed starting pitching, but that’s not Hicks’ fault. The same way it wasn’t J.A. Happ’s fault the appeared in a postseason game for the 2020 Yankees. Aaron Boone implemented that ridiculous ALDS Game 2 pitching plan and Boone is the one who bats Hicks third. It doesn’t have to do with his place in the batting in the batting order either. My criticism of Hicks all stems from his inability to stay healthy.

Hicks spent his entire 20s injured. As a Yankee, he has only played in 461 of a possible 870 regular-season games or 53 percent over six seasons. Hicks has essentially missed every other game since 2015. That’s absurd, though not uncommon during this era of Yankees baseball in which the team set the all-time, single-season record for most players placed on the injured list. (When you have Hicks, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez on the same team, you need depth.) Hicks isn’t necessarily Jacoby Ellsbury when it comes to being injury prone, but it’s not like he’s that far away from being The Thief either. At least the Yankees only committed $70 million to Hicks over seven years instead of the $153 million they gave to Ellsbury.

Hicks has found himself on the injured list with every baseball-related injury you can think of as a Yankee. In 2016, he missed time due to shoulder bursitis and then more time with a hamstring strain. In 2017, he went on the then-disabled list twice, once for a right oblique strain and once for a left oblique strain. In 2018, he got hurt on Opening Day (only Hicks!) and went on the then-disabled list with a strained right intercostal muscle. He did play in a career-high 137 regular-season games in 2018 and then got hurt in the postseason, missing two of the four games in the ALDS. In 2019, he hurt his back on a 35-minute bus ride in spring training and didn’t make his season debut until May 15. Then in early August of 2019, he was removed from a game against the Red Sox with an elbow injury that caused him to miss the remainder of the regular season and the ALDS, needing offseason Tommy John surgery.

The Yankees have Hicks through his age 35 season (2025) with a $12.5 million team option or $1 million buyout on his age (2026). (I’m guessing they have that $1 million already set aside.) For at least the next five years, Hicks is going to be a Yankee, and for the majority of that, he’s going to be asked to be the starting center fielder. For as much as I criticize Hicks and for as sarcastic as I have been during his Yankees tenure, the Yankees need him to stay healthy and produce to win. I need him to stay healthy and produce for the Yankees to win.

Hicks met with the media on Thursday at spring training and talked about his health and his goals for the season.

On his 2020 performance.
“I was happy with the postseason. I feel like throughout the regular season I had a lot of opportunities to do better and I wasn’t able to do that. I feel great now. I’m pretty much just focused on this year and doing the best I can to have a great season.”

Hicks didn’t have a good 2020 regular season, batting .225/.379/.414, but it was understandable given he was coming off of Tommy John surgery. He spoke on Thursday about how he couldn’t extend his right arm batting left-handed the way he wanted to. Surprisingly, he had the same .793 OPS from both sides of the plate, so it’s not as though he was any better when he was able to use his left arm as his front arm while batting.

Hicks was good in the postseason, as he noted. Well, he was good against Tampa Bay in the ALDS, after going 1-for-8 with four strikeouts against Cleveland in the wild-card series. Against Tampa Bay, he hit .389/.455/.444 in 22 plate appearances across the five games. It was the first time he was good for an entire series since the 2017 ALDS against Cleveland when he hit .216/.350/.526 and had that memorable home run off Corey Kluber in Game 5.

It was good to see Hicks get better (in October) the further removed he got from Tommy John surgery. It was also good to see him finally produce in the postseason. Hicks had been 7-for-54 (.129) with two doubles, a home run, 10 walks and 18 strikeouts across the 2017 ALCS, 2018 wild-card game, 2018 ALDS, 2019 ALCS and 2020 wild-card series. Since that home run off Kluber, Hicks’ 2019 ALCS Game 5 first-inning home run off Justin Verlander had been his only contribution in the postseason for the Yankees before this past ALDS.

On his 2021 goals.
“I definitely see myself hitting 30-plus (home runs). That’s what I want to do and that’s what I believe that I can do. If I get 500 plate appearances, I’m definitely going to hit my mark with those numbers.”

Let’s start with Hicks using the word “if” when talking about getting to 500 plate appearances as if he knows an injured-list trip is inevitable each season. At least he’s honest, and knows he can’t make any guarantees, especially about his health. He knows his injury history. He knows he has never played more than 137 games in any of his eight major league seasons. He knows he has only eclipsed 390 plate appearances once when he had 581 in 2018. That season, he hit 27 home runs in the career-high 581 plate appearances over the career-high 137 games. His second-highest games played is 123 (2016) and second-highest home run total is 15 (2017).

Hicks is now 31. He didn’t hit 30 home runs and only got to the plate appearance number he desires for 2021 once in his 20s. I’m not sure if he’s suddenly going to increase his power, get better at hitting home runs and be healthier on the other side of the 30. At least he has a goal in mind, no matter how lofty it might be.

On his plate appearance goal.
“That’s definitely a goal of mine to get 500-plus at bats, and really see what I can do throughout a season with that many plate appearances, and really see what kind of player I am.”

I think we know what kind of player Hicks is after 2,697 career plate appearances. I don’t know why he seems to be so focused on hitting home runs either. The Yankees have enough hitters whose sole goal at the plate is to hit a home run no matter the count, situation or score (Stanton, Sanchez and Luke Voit. Whether Hicks means 500 at-bats or 500 plate appearances is irrelevant. His goal should be to play in 150 games, not try to be a power hitter.

Right now, I would sign up for 100 games from Hicks in 2021. Yes, I would be willing to sacrifice 62 games and 38 percent of the season from the Yankees’ switch-hitting center fielder knowing it would mean seeing more than enough of Brett Gardner and Mike Tauchman. That’s because I know Hicks. He’s the same guy who two years ago, missed nearly the first two months of the season from that spring training bus ride. That was when he was 29 and before he had his throwing elbow surgically repaired. I don’t envision him getting healthier and less injury prone as he gets older. No one does that.

If Hicks draws his walks and can stay in the lineup and on the field, that’s all I want from him. It’s not asking a lot, but with him, it is.

Subscribe to the Keefe To The City Podcast. New episodes every Monday and Thursday during the offseason.

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

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Podcasts • Rangers • Rangers Podcast

Feb 25, 2021

Rangers Podcast: Need to Win Winnable Games

After their atrocious first quarter of the season, the Rangers need to cancel out some of those early-season losses with wins.

The Rangers lost another game they could have won, this time 4-3 to the Flyers. After their atrocious first quarter of the season, the Rangers need to cancel out some of those early-season losses with wins, and Wednesday in Philadelphia was a perfect opportunity to do so, and they didn’t.

Subscribe to the Keefe To The City Podcast. New Rangers episodes after every game throughout the season.

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Blogs • Rangers • Rangers Thoughts

Feb 25, 2021

Rangers Thoughts: Roster Falling Apart

It was always going to be hard for the Rangers to earn a postseason berth in the deepest division with the youngest roster in the league. With their current roster, I don’t know how they reach the playoffs.

The Rangers lost yet another game they could have won on Wednesday night in Philadelphia, losing 4-3 to the Flyers. The Rangers did earn four of a possible six points in the three games in Philadelphia and Washington, so it was a successful road trip.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.

1. It was always going to be hard for the Rangers to earn a postseason berth in the deepest division in the league with the youngest roster in the league, even if they were stay completely healthy all season. They haven’t stayed healthy, and the injuries, coupled with protocol problems and Artemi Panarin’s situation have left them with a roster that’s not going to be nearly good enough on most night. With their current roster for an extended period of time, I don’t know how they reach the playoffs.

2. Panarin won’t be with the team for what seems like indefinitely. Filip Chytil just started skating following an injury and being in protocol, Kaapko Kakko is in protocol and now K’Andre Miller is too. Jacob Trobua is out for four to six weeks with a broken thumb. The Rangers are down three top-six forwards and one-third of their expected defense. Losses shouldn’t be hard to come by with this roster.

3. That’s not to say the Rangers couldn’t have won in Philadelphia on Wednesday for their third straight win. They could have. They won in expected goals like they have more often than not this season, the problem is expected goals mean absolutely nothing. The Flyers scored four goals and Chris Kreider scored all three Rangers goals. That’s all that matters.

4. I have been hard on Kreider this season. (Actually, I have been hard on him since before he was a Ranger when the Rangers should have included him to acquire Rick Nash at the 2011-12 deadline.) But he had a hat trick on Wednesday, accouting for the Rangers’ entire offense, and now leads the Rangers with eight goals on the season. (He might want to add in a few assists along the way to bolster that 8-1-9 line.) Kreider has been part of the problem and not part of the solution in the majority of the games this season, though he hasn’t been the reason for the Rangers’ offensive shortcomings of late.

5. The amount of breakaways and odd-man rushes the Flyers had on Wednesday was astounding. The third period felt like one long power play for the Flyers as they kept crossing the Rangers’ blue line with numbers. Igor Shesterkin finally stopped a breakaway (many breakaways) and kept the Rangers in the game, and it ended up being the latest case of Blue(shirts) Balls where you think the Rangers are going to complete a comeback to at least force overtime, and they don’t.

6. Shesterkin was outstanding on odd-man rushes, so it’s hard to get on him for the goal Kevin Hayes scored, but that just can’t happen. You have to let it slide since the breakaways more than cancel out Hayes’ bad-angle shot over Shesterkin’s shoulder from the goal line, it’s just hard to stomach that goal being the eventual game-winner.

7. I was happy when the Rangers didn’t extend Hayes, happy when they moved him and happy when they didn’t re-sign him. He’s been a much better player in Philadelphia than he was in New York, however, that doesn’t change my mind on the Rangers deciding to not make him part of their future a couple of years ago.

8. I don’t know how Alexis Lafrenière only got 3:50 of ice time in the first period against the Flyers. That would be an abysmal number if the Rangers were at full strength. When you factor in that Panarin, Kakko and Chytil are all out, it would seem impossible. Lafrenière finished the game 14:56 of ice time, but that’s still 1:55 less than Colin Blackwell and 2:39 less than Kevin Rooney. Throw out positions and special teams, that just can’t happen. Otherwise, what’s the point of anything if the No. 1 overall pick isn’t allowed to impact that game more than Blackwell and Rooney, and Ryan Strome and Pavel Buchnevich for that matter.

9. I guess I will just never understand David Quinn. Well, I shouldn’t say that. Either he will change his ways and I will understand him, or he will replaced as Rangers head coach. As of now though, it looks like I will never understand him since he seems set in his inexplicable ways, and there doesn’t seem to be much that can be done about it. Not even the absence of Panarin, Kakko and Chytil is enough for him to change.

10. After going 4-7-3 in the first quarter of the season, the Rangers made it so they had to win two out of every three games for the remaining 42. They have done so to begin the second quarter as they 2-1-0 after the three games in Philadelphia and Washington. Now it’s three straight at home against Boston (twice) and Buffalo before a six-game road trip to New Jersey (2), Pittsburgh (2) and Boston (2). After these next nine games, the season will be 46 percent and we’ll have a good idea of what this Rangers season is or will be.

Subscribe to the Keefe To The City Podcast. New Rangers episodes after every game throughout the season.

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Podcasts • Yankees • Yankees Podcast

Feb 25, 2021

Yankees Podcast: Lineup Questions and Injury Concerns

Aaron Boone says his lineups will be different in 2021, but it’s hard to believe what the manager says at this point.

The Yankees have spent the first week of spring training talking about how much starting pitching depth the team has, even though one of their starting pitching options is now shut down for the next three to four weeks. Aaron Boone keeps talking about how Gary Sanchez will catch Gerrit Cole and that Clint Frazier will be the everyday left fielder over Brett Gardner, but it’s hard to know what to believe from the Yankees manager.

Frank Marco of Bronx Pinstripes joined me to talk about the first week of spring training, the lineup questions and injury concerns this season and what Yankees fans’ confidence level should be right now.

Subscribe to the Keefe To The City Podcast. New episodes every Monday and Thursday during the offseason.

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

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Blogs • Yankees • Yankees Thoughts

Feb 24, 2021

Yankees Thoughts: An Eventful First Week of Spring Training

It’s been an eventful first week of spring training for the Yankees. A little more eventful than any Yankees fan should want. Here are 10 thoughts on the Yankees.

It’s been an eventful first week of spring training for the Yankees. A little more eventful than any Yankees fan should want.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Yankees.

1. It took six days for the Yankees to have their first injury of 2021. Six days. Even for the Yankees that’s ridiculous. Clarke Schmidt was shut down on Monday for the next three to four weeks with a tendon strain in his elbow. The same Schmidt who has previously undergone Tommy John surgery and has had elbow issues since that surgery. When asked how it happened, Schmidt said he was overthrowing in his bullpen session trying to make an impression on the coaching staff to earn a roster spot, likely the fifth spot in the rotation. So that awesome starting pitching depth Aaron Boone mentioned at his spring training-opening press conference and that others like Luis Severino and Aaron Judge have also cited this spring, well, it’s already down one arm.

2. Schmidt was likely seventh on the Yankees’ Opening Day starting pitching depth chart (and eighth if Severino were healthy), so it doesn’t impact the Yankees’ early-season plans … yet. They still have more than five weeks of bullpen sessions, pitcher’s fielding practice and exhibition games to get through unscathed without any of their other starters getting hurt, and that includes Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon who have barely pitched over the last two years because of their own injuries and surgeries. Right now, the Schmidt injury doesn’t hurt the Yankees overall, but that doesn’t mean it won’t before he’s able to return.

3. Judge spoke for the first time in 2021 and gave his annual “I hate to lose” quotes, and vowed to stay healthy this season. He was asked about Fernando Tatis’ 14-year, $340 million and if he had talked with the Yankees in the offseason about a potential long-term deal himself. He said no. Thankfully. It’s not that I don’t want Judge to be a Yankee for a long time, it’s that I need to see him prove he should be a Yankee for a long time. We all know his ability as one of the game’s top players when he plays, but over the last three seasons he hasn’t played much, missing about one-third of all regular-season games since the start of 2019. Judge discussed his offseason workout changes led by Eric Cressey, and maybe that’s what will finally keep Judge on the field for his first full season since 2017. If it’s not, I don’t know what will at this point.

4. On Wednesday, Boone said this about Giancarlo Stanton playing the outfield in 2021:

“I don’t want to be completely resigned to him just being a full-time DH. I think the more he can continue to stay athletic and be an option on defense, I don’t think it’s out of the question. Ultimately, it might be something that actually does help him stay more healthy.”

This is what Brian Cashman said at his end-of-the-season press conference after the Yankees lost to the Rays in October.

“Given the injuries that we’ve experienced with him thus far, I think a safe bet would be to focus with him at the DH level.”

Boone can say whatever he wants (which he does), whether it has any real traction is another thing. I would say the only way Stanton plays the outfield in 2021 is an emergency situation.

5. Brett Gardner is officially back, and that’s bad news for Clint Frazier. Boone has said a few times over this past week that Frazier is the team’s starting left fielder, and maybe he will be on Opening Day, but don’t think for a second Boone won’t inexplicably play Gardner over him. He did so in the team’s most recent games in October when he started Gardner over Frazier in left field in five of the seven playoff games. Hearing Boone say, “I expect Clint to be our left fielder and to be in that starting lineup,” holds no weight after Boone chose Gardner over Frazier and his .905 OPS in the postseason. Boone chose Mike Ford over Frazier as a pinch-hit option with the season on the line! So yeah, I will believe Frazier is the “everyday” left fielder when it happens every day.

6. The Yankees made the Justin Wilson signing official, reuniting the left-hander with the team that traded hi mto Detroit for Chad Green and Luis Cessa. To open a space for Wilson on the 40-man roster, the Yankees designated Greg Allen for assignment, who they had traded for earlier in the offseason. So for now, Mike Tauchman if the next in line to playing time after Gardner.

7. With Wilson back on the team, the Opening Day bullpen pecking order (if all are healthy) seems like it will be:

Aroldis Chapman
Zack Britton
Chad Green
Darren O’Day
Justin Wilson
Jonathan Loaisiga
Luis Cessa
Nick Nelson/Michael King

8. That’s eight relievers. Boone says the Yankees would like to have 13 position players and 13 pitchers on their 26-man roster. Both Nelson and King or another reliever could be on the Opening Day roster and the Yankees could open the season with four starters because of the early-season off days, and call up a fifth starter once they need one. Let’s hope Nelson or King or another reliever in that spot or as the ninth bullpen option only sees a regular-season mound because the Yankees are winning by double digits.

9. I have a feeling the fifth starter spot is going to go to scumbag Domingo German rather than Deivi Garcia. I don’t think the Yankees have kept German all this time through his disturbing actions to not have him pitch for them. It’s a shame and it’s disappointing as a fan of the team that eight percent of the 26-man roster has been suspended for despicable behavior, and 15 percent of the pitching staff. The handling of the whole situation by the Yankees has been an embarrassment. Not as embarrassing as continuing to roster a scumbag like him, but pretty close. The same way Chapman should have never been a Yankee, German shouldn’t be one now.

10. The Yankees will play their first spring training game on Monday. I normally don’t care for any spring training game aside from the first inning of the first one, but I think this March will be different. After the winter weather in New York City for the last month and having only had 67 Yankees games in 2020 and having had no baseball or sports or live entertainment for more than four months nearly a year ago at this time, I welcome meaningless spring training games in 2021.

Subscribe to the Keefe To The City Podcast. New episodes every Monday and Thursday during the offseason.

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

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