Blogs – Page 117 – Keefe To The City

Apr 29, 2019

Off Day Dreaming: The April Yankees Won’t Be Forgotten

Most of the current Yankees will be sent down once the regulars return. If the 2019 Yankees get to where they’re expected to go this season, the April Yankees won’t be forgotten for keeping the season alive.

It wasn’t too long ago I was in love with off days for the Yankees and praying and doing rain dances for games to be postponed until later in the season when the team would be at full strength or even half strength. But thanks to the team’s play over the last four series and two weeks, I once again hate off days.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Yankees on this off day.

Back on the Yankees’ off day on April 11, I wrote The Yankees Are in Trouble, citing the lengthy injured list, blown leads, losses to awful teams, a weak lineup, bad starting pitching and an inconsistent bullpen. The Yankees then went on to lose

1. Back on the Yankees’ off day on April 11, I wrote The Yankees Are in Trouble, citing the lengthy injured list, blown leads, losses to awful teams, a weak lineup, bad starting pitching and an inconsistent bullpen. The Yankees then went on to lose two of three to the White Sox that weekend.

Four days later, on their April 15 off day, I wrote When Are the Yankees Going to ‘Turn the Corner’ Aaron Boone Keeps Talking About? The team was 6-9 and 0-3 in home series against the Orioles, Tigers and White Sox, and Boone gave his old BS answers in his postgame press conference following the Sunday loss to the White Sox.

That would be the last Yankees off day for two weeks with two games against the Red Sox, four against the Royals, four against the Angels and three against the Giants between then and today. The plan was to tread water and hover around .500 until the regulars could come back from the injured list, but as the Yankees waited around for their regulars to come back, more regulars joined them on the injured list. Instead of the Yankees treading water over the crucial two weeks, they went on an 11-2 run, winning all four series and climbing within 1 1/2 games of the Rays.

I don’t ever like to give Boone credit, but for as much as I criticize the manager for being in over his head and simply having no idea what he’s doing (which is true), I will give him a little, tiny bit of credit for the way the team has played since the Red Sox series. Sure, he’s made some nonsensical bullpen decisions over the last 13 games, nearly costing the Yankees a few games, but the team is winning, and it’s hard to completely destroy the manager when the win column keeps changing and the team has the second-best run differential in the league despite a daily lineup consisting of a combination of Tyler Wade, Mike Tauchman, Mike Ford, Gio Urshela, Austin Romine, Kyle Higashioka, Thairo Estrada and Cameron Maybin. So for now, I will lay off Boone.

2. Actually, scratch that. I have two things about Boone I have to mention.

The first is his usage of Jonthan Holder, who isn’t trustworthy. The Yankees’ only loss in Anaheim in the series finale. Masahiro Tanaka blew a 4-0 lead, and in a 4-4 game with two on and one out, Boone went to Holder, who immediately allowed both runners to score. Here is how Boone utilized his bullpen in that game:

Tie game, two on, one out: Jonathan Holder
Down two, cleaning inning: Stephen Tarpley
Down two, two on, one out: Joseph Harvey
Down six, cleaning inning: Tommy Kahnle

The Yankees went 11-2 over their last 13 with timely hitting, great starting pitching and a good enough bullpen. The team’s performance prevented Boone from getting his hands on the game too much, but when he did, he proved incapable of making sound decisions. I’m not scared, I’m petrified of Boone in another postseason.

The second Boone complaint is in regards to Gary Sanchez. Sanchez had two weeks off, came back and played two games and then had the day off against a left-handed starter (Madison Bumgarner) with an off day coming up on Monday (today) and again on Thursday. The Yankees should be embarrassed with how many everyday players are on the injured list to go along with their best starter and best reliever, and yet, they are sticking with their over-the-top off day schedule.

3. Speaking of Sanchez, I haven’t heard much from the Austin Romine Fan Club lately. After Sanchez struck out in seven of his nine at-bats, whispers from the Rominers began to grow, disregarding the fact Sanchez played in one rehab game after being on the injured list for two weeks. But then there was complete silence from the backup catcher brigade, probably because they were sitting in amazement when Sanchez nailed Mike Trout trying to steal second in Anaheim or staring in awe with their mouths open at the two majestic home runs he clobbered over the weekend against the Giants.

I will never understand how any Yankees fan doesn’t like Sanchez. Yes, he had a bad, injury-plagued regular season last year, but he’s come back from that to be the Sanchez we watched in 2016 and 2017. He’s the best catcher in the league (YES showed a graphic on Sunday showing since 2016, Sanchez leads all catchers by 50 points in slugging) and it’s not even close. So please stop your complaining, sit back and enjoy the luxury you have at catcher.

4. If Luis Severino doesn’t hurt his shoulder in spring training, Domingo German isn’t in the rotation. Michael Kay asked the question of what happens when Severino returns and we are a long way from that and I’m sure the rotation will take care of itself with injuries are underperformance, but if Severino were to return today, there’s no way you could pull German from the rotation.

Sunday was the first time German allowed more than three earned runs in a game, and all four of the runs came in the sixth inning, after he one-hit the Giants for five innings. The Yankees have won four of his five starts, and the only loss came against the Royals when he allowed three earned runs in six innings with nine strikeouts and no walks. With the expected Yankees offense against the Royals, that’s a win nine out of 10 times.

In the small sample size of five starts and one relief appearance (which he picked up the win in after pitching two shutout innings), German seems to have figured out how to throw strikes. He’s only walked nine in 31 2/3 innings (against 32 strikeouts) and five of those walks came on April 1, in his first start of the season, on a cold night in New York.

Maybe German will regress the way he did last season after a strong start to the season, but as of now, he’s been the Yankees’ most consistent starter this season, and after his turn in the rotation was skipped once already this season, it can’t be skipped again if he continues to pitch like this.

5. After DJ LeMahieu left Sunday’s game with knee inflammation and Gio Urshela left after being drilled on the hand, all I could do was laugh. The Yankees are waiting for Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, Didi Gregorius and Miguel Andujar, Clint Frazier and Troy Tulowitzki to return, and if anyone else gets hurt, I have no idea where they are going to turn. Thankfully, X-rays were negative on both LeMahieu and Urshela, though I’m sure they will undergo further testing and with the way other Yankees have been deemed fine only to end up on the injured list, you can’t help but assume neither will avoid a 10-day absence.

LeMahieu signed as a super utility guy on a stacked team, most likely wondering how he would get a full season of at-bats despite being a former batting champion and Gold Glove second baseman. After not being in the Opening Day lineup, he’s become the team’s leadoff hitter, batting .310/.363/.430 with long at-bats and an unbelievable contact rate and approach with two strikes.

Urshela came to the Yankees as a career .225/.274/.315 who had reached the majors solely because of his infield defense. He claimed to have made adjustments at the plate in the offseason and with regular playing time on these Yankees is batting .351/.415/.509 looking anything other than overmatched at the plate.

Hopefully, neither guy has to go on the injured list, but I won’t hold my breath with the Yankees’ handling of injuries.

6. Like the Rominers, be prepared for the Urshelas to speak out when Miguel Andujar returns and makes an error at third base. I love Urshela and what he’s done for this team, but let’s not forget what Andujar did last season as rookie the way a lot of people forgot about what Sanchez did for two seasons.

7. Thairo Estrada is doing everything he can to have a future in the majors as a Yankee and not part of another franchise. He’s doing his best to give the Yankees a backup plan if Didi Gregorius turns down a potential extension or leaves via free agency.

The second baseman, turned left fielder over the weekend, is 6 for 14 with a walk and three strikeouts in 16 plate appearances since his debut. The 23-year-old has looked smooth in the field and mature at the plate, and while I enjoy having Gregorius on the team, I can’t help but envision an Estrada-Gleyber Torres middle infield for a long, long time.

8. It’s now shocking when Luke Voit doesn’t reach base in an at-bat. He’s batting .283/.397/.935 with eight homer runs and 25 RBIs, having reached base safely in every game this season. He put up a .365/.468/.635 batting line with two doubles, four home runs, 11 RBIs and nine walks over the 11-2 run. His defense is a story for another day, but the Yankees’ interim 2-hitter is hitting the way the real 2-hitter (Judge) does.

9. Today is April 29. It’s now been 61 days since Aaron Hicks hurt his back on a 35-minute bus ride from Tampa to Lakeland in spring training. Supposedly, Hicks is close to playing in games, but who knows what is true and what isn’t when it comes to his timetable to return. This situation is long past ridiculous.

10. On April 11, when the Yankees were 5-7, I wrote going 11-6 for the rest of April and finishing the month at 16-13 was more than doable. With one game left in the month, the Yankees are 17-11, meaning they will pass my minimal win goal of 16 by at least one game, and possibly two.

It’s unbelievable the Yankees have been able to win the way the way they have with their injury situation. If the Yankees’ injury timetables are accurate (don’t count on it), we could see some semblance of their expected 2019 lineup start to take form in the next week.

Most of the current players (Tauchman, Ford, Wade, Estrada, Maybin) will be headed back to the minors once the regulars return. If the Yankees get to where they’re expected to go this season, the April Yankees won’t be forgotten for keeping the season alive.

***

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

Blogs • KTTC Classics • Yankees

Apr 26, 2019

Aaron Boone Needs to Stop Treating Jonathan Holder Like an Elite Reliever

I don’t trust Jonathan Holder, but it’s not his fault he’s put into high-leverage situations when he’s not that kind of reliever.

You didn’t need to go to the bathroom or take a shower or get a beer. If you blinked, you might have missed Masahiro Tanaka erase a four-run lead in the fifth inning on Thursday night in Anaheim. Two starts ago, Tanaka blew a four-run lead to the White Sox by giving up a grand slam and this time he blew it with a pair of two-run home runs.

Tied 4-4 heading to the bottom of the sixth, Aaron Boone let Tanaka put two more baserunners on and with two outs, he finally went to his bullpen. With runners on first and second and a right-handed hitter up, I expected to see Adam Ottavino. Ottavino had made only two appearances and thrown 46 pitches over the last six days and this might be the highest-leverage situation the game would have. His slider repertoire against a light-hitting, right-handed 8-hitter? It was about as perfect of a matchup as you could ask for to get out of the inning. Boone didn’t think so, most likely opting to save Ottavino for later in the game, once again allowing the inning and not the situation determine which reliever he uses. Boone instead went to his personal favorite: Jonathan Holder.

Holder quickly got ahead of David Fletcher 0-1. Gary Sanchez then called for a slider and flipped his glove over expecting a slider low and away, but Holder threw a fastball, surprising Sanchez and getting by him to allow the runners to move up to second and third. A single now didn’t mean one run, it meant two, and sure enough, Holder missed his spot on the 2-2 pitch and gave up the inevitable two-run single.

I wasn’t surprised Holder allowed both inherited runners to score, effectively losing the game. I expected it. The moment YES panned to him walking out of the bullpen I knew what was going to happen. I feel like you shouldn’t expect the worst out of a reliever the organization continues to trust with games on the line, but there’s a lot that doesn’t make sense with the Aaron Boone Yankees.

Last season, Holder blew the the third game of the season when he allowed an inherited runner to score and followed that up by allowing six earned runs in his next two appearances over 2 1/3 innings, which forced him to Triple-A. Upon his return, Holder pitched to a 0.88 ERA over his next 35 games and 41 innings with hitters batting .148/.196/.230 against him.

Holder’s stock dramatically rose on May 9 when he entered in the eighth inning against the Red Sox at the Stadium with the Yankees trailing 6-5. Chasen Shreve left Holder with runners on second and third and one out (because of course he did) and Holder was able to get out of the inning unscathed. The Yankees scored four runs in the bottom of the inning and went on to win 9-6.

Despite Holder’s improbable run, I still didn’t trust him in a big spot, even if Aaron Boone and the organization did. On August 2 in Boston, my feelings toward for Holder were justified.

In the first game of the pivotal four-game series in Boston, the Yankees held a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth. CC Sabathia had labored through three innings, throwing 77 pitches and putting seven runners on base, so Boone made the right decision to go to his bullpen to begin the fourth inning, but made the wrong decision of who he was going to: Holder.

Holder’s three-month stretch had earned him important innings and none to date would be more important than the ones he was about to pitch. The Yankees were trailing the Red Sox by 5 1/2 games in the division, needing to win the series to even think about winning the division over the final two months of the season.

Holder entered and walked the nearly-impossible-to-walk 9-hitter Jackie Bradley on five pitches. After that, what unfolded was the single worst relief appearance I have ever seen and will likely ever see in a Major League Baseball game. Including, the walk to Bradley, here’s how Holder’s appearance went:

Bradley walks
Mookie Betts doubles, Bradley to third
Andrew Benintendi reaches on fielder’s choice to pitcher, Bradley scores, Betts to third
Benintendi steals second
Steve Pearce three-home run
J.D. Martinez doubles
Ian Kinsler singles, Martinez scores
Kinsler steals second
Eduardo Nunez doubles, Kinsler scores

Holder faced seven batters and didn’t retire one of them, giving up four extra-base hits and seven runs and likely needed to change his underwear after being consumed by the Fenway Park crowd in the biggest game of the season. With a chance to get back in the division race for the last time, Holder rewarded the Yankees with a performance fitting of his level of trust to everyone outside the organization. His line for the game: 0 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR.

This season, Holder has been his usual self, which is the self the Yankees don’t feel he truly is. Rather than recognizing his three-month run last season as an unfathomable overachievement like we have seen in the past from a reliever like Brian Bruney or starters like Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon, the Yankees believe Holder is their next elite reliever, and they keep treating him as if he’s already one.

Holder’s line this season: 13.1 IP, 15 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 15 K, 2 HR, 5.40 ERA, 1.350 WHIP. He has made nine appearances this season, giving up earned runs in six of them and allowing four of six inherited runners to score.

I don’t trust Jonathan Holder, but it’s not his fault. The reason I don’t trust him is because I’m forced to in big spots and high-leverage situations, and he’s not that kind of reliever, rarely ever coming through. He’s good (at times), but he’s certainly not great, and he’s certainly not worthy of the spots Boone keeps using him in.

With Chad Green being sent down after Tuesday’s win, the Yankees are already down one formerly trustworthy reliever, leaving them with only Ottavino, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman until Dellin Betances returns. Unfortunately, there will be high-leverage situations in which Boone won’t go to his best relievers (for illogical reasons, like trying to prevent injuries which aren’t preventable or continuing to manage to the inning and not the situation), but he can’t go to Holder. Tommy Kahnle has started to look more like his 2017 self and Luis Cessa has proven he’s better suited as a reliever than a starter in the majors, and I now trust those two more than I do Holder.

Eventually, Boone and the Yankees will realize Holder isn’t their next 2017 Green and he’s nowhere near the level of Ottavino or Britton, let alone Betances. They just need to realize it before it costs them more games.

***

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

Blogs • Giants

Apr 25, 2019

The Giants Don’t Need to Draft a Quarterback

The Giants will pick at 6 and 17 in the first round and I don’t think they use either pick on a quarterback. I don’t think they should use any of their 12 picks in the draft on a quarterback.

Don’t draft a quarterback.

I will be repeating that phrase to myself when “THE PICK IS IN” graphic appears on the bottom of the TV for the Giants sometime before 9 p.m. on Thursday night.

There’s no franchise-changing quarterback in this draft outside of Kyler Murray, who I still can’t believe gave up on a career in Major League Baseball and a reported additional $14 million to focus on football. Even when it comes to Murray, no one knows how his game will translate from college to the NFL given his stature, and as a Giants fan, it doesn’t matter how it will translate because the Giants don’t have the option of selecting him without making a Kevin Costner in Draft Day-esque move up to acquire the first overall pick.

The Giants will pick at 6 and 17 in the first round and I don’t think they use either pick on a quarterback. I don’t think they should use any of their 12 picks in the draft on a quarterback.

The Giants need to build a team, and I mean an actual team. Right now, the Giants have very few NFL-worthy starters in their expected 2019 lineup on either side of the ball. They need to enhance both lines, somehow create a pass rush and construct a secondary. A rookie quarterback won’t help them do any of those things, and using a high pick on a quarterback won’t do the team or the player any good when there isn’t a line to protect him when he inevitably plays. Wasting a pick, especially one in the first few rounds on a quarterback who may or may not be a capable starter in the NFL is a gamble and risk not worth taking. Not this year at least.

Last year at the draft, there was the notion the Giants should pick their next quarterback with the No. 2 pick in the draft under the premise they wouldn’t be picking at or near the top of the draft again for a very long time. That very long time became the very next season and this draft. The Giants chose to not select the heir to Eli Manning a year ago, but that doesn’t mean they now have to select him this year.

I’m always a Giants optimist in the offseason and right up until kickoff in Week 1, before the Giants remind me and every other fan why they are the most frustrating team in the league. But even as an offseason optimist, I don’t see how the Giants aren’t going to be picking even higher in 2020 than they are in 2019. Aside from the four division games against the Cowboys and Eagles, the Giants will also play the NFC North and AFC East, and I don’t know where anyone is confidently finding four or five wins in their 2019 schedule, let alone the six they recorded this past season. The 2019 Giants might make me yearn for the days of the 2017 and 2018 Giants.

The Giants don’t need a quarterback right now. As the President of the Eli Manning Fan Club, I realize that last sentence seems both biased and ridiculous, but it’s true. The Giants don’t need a quarterback for 2019. They might need one in 2020 and will probably need one in 2021, but there’s no one worth selecting and wasting a season mentoring in this year’s draft. Next year’s draft is when they should go after a franchise signal caller.

When the Giants go on the clock for the first time on Thursday night, I will keep repeating that phrase, praying my plan will be heard by the Giants.

Don’t draft a quarterback.

Blogs • Yankees

Apr 24, 2019

Chad Green Can’t Be Trusted

Right now, the only situation for Green is mop-up duty, in a game it would take a miracle for the Yankees to come back and win, and only being able to pitch in such a situation isn’t worthy of a roster spot.

I was distraught when Luis Severino was removed from the 2017 AL Wild-Card Game. It was only the first inning and the Yankees were trailing 3-0 with just one out and runners on second and third. The season was on the brink of elimination and a base hit would most likely end it before the Yankees ever came to bat in the game.

Joe Girardi raced to the mound as if he tried the Stadium chili fries and needed to get back to the clubhouse. He immediately took the ball from Severino and called on Chad Green, and for a moment I felt a sense of relief.

Green had been the Yankees’ best reliever that season in his transition to the bullpen. In 69 innings, he allowed a measly 34 hits while striking out 103 to only 17 walks. I still trusted David Robertson as much as anyone in the worst of jams and I still believed in Dellin Betances despite his end-of-the-season decline, but this spot was perfect for Green. Green rewarded Girardi’s decision to go to the bullpen for 26 outs by getting out of the inning with the score still 3-0.

Three nights later in Cleveland, Girardi once again called on Green in Game 2 of the ALDS. This time Green entered with the Yankees leading 8-3 in sixth inning and a runner on first with two outs. Sabathia was only at 77 pitches and the bottom of the order was coming up for the Indians, but Girardi went to his bullpen for the last 11 outs of the game. Green had thrown 41 pitches in the wild-card game, and I knew something was off with Green from the very first batter.

Green had trouble putting away the easy-to-put-away Austin Jackson, as Jackson was able to foul away two two-strike pitches before flying out to right field on the seventh pitch of the at-bat. Then against the light-hitting catcher Yan Gomes, Green ran into the same problem, as Gomes fouled away three two-strike pitches before doubling to left on a line drive, also on the seventh pitch of the at-bat. With runners on second and third and one out, Green got ahead of 9-hitter Lonnie Chisenhall 0-2 on two foul tips, but Chisenhall was able to foul off four straight two-strike pitches before being hit by a pitch. Green had thrown 21 pitches to the Indians’ 7, 8 and 9 hitters and had been unable to get a single swing-and-miss.

Chisenhall had foul-tipped the first two pitches to fall behind 0-2, which was almost a bit of foreshadowing as the seventh pitch of the at-bat hadn’t hit him, but rather had been tipped off the bat and into Gary Sanchez’s glove. It should have been the third out of the inning, but home plate umpire Dan Iassogna missed the call and Girardi missed his chance to challenge the call for reasons I will never understand even with Sanchez repeatedly telling his manager the ball hit the bat. The bases were now loaded and the lineup was turning over. I felt like I was going to be sick and when Girardi decided to stay with Green to face Francisco Lindor I could feel my stomach rumbling.

Lindor took Green’s first pitch for a ball, and the second pitch — Green’s 23rd of the inning — he took for a ride. Matt Vasgersian screamed, “LINDOR WITH A SWING AND A DRIVE … AND IT’S GONE!” while Sanchez watched Lindor round the bases in disbelief. The Yankees still led 8-7, but no one thought the Yankees were going to hold on to win the game. Certainly not me.

The Yankees lost Game 2 before improbably winning three straight to win the series and shock the top-seeded Indians, though Green wouldn’t pitch in Games 3, 4 or 5. He did look more like his regular-season self in the ALCS against the Astros, allowing one earned run in his three appearances and stranding two inherited runners in Game 6.

But in 2018, even with his overall solid season (94 strikeouts in 75 2/3 innings with a 2.50 ERA), he wasn’t as dominant as he had been in 2017. His hits per nine innings rose from 4.4 to 7.6, he allowed more than double his home run total from the year before (four to nine) and his strikeouts per nine innings dropped from 13.4 to 11.2. He was still very good, but he was no longer unhittable, and while I trusted him more than Jonathan Holder, Luis Cessa, Tommy Kahnle or A.J. Cole (not that being more trustworthy than any of those four means much), I didn’t trust him nearly the way I did the year before. In the ALDS, he allowed one earned run in 3 2/3 innings on four hits and three walks, but didn’t strike out any of the 18 batters he faced, and it was clear something was off with him.

This season the slow decline for Green since the end of the 2017 regular season has taken another step in the wrong direction. A much larger step. He has allowed at least one earned run in six of his 10 appearances, giving up a crooked number in four of those. In four his last six outings, he has taken a loss against the Astros (0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K), put a game out of reach against the White Sox (0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2 HR), nearly ruined Easter Sunday against the Royals (0.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K) and almost blew a six-run lead against the Angels (0.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR).

Green’s line for the season: 7.2 IP, 15 H, 14 R, 14 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 4 HR, 16.43 ERA, 2.477 WHIP.

The 14 earned runs he’s allowed this season matches his total from 2017 when he made 40 appearances and pitched 69 innings.

With the current state of the Yankees lineup, the team needs to be able to rely on their starting pitching and the bullpen to win games. The starting pitching has lived up to expectations for the last week, but the bullpen continues to be an inconsistent problem, and Green is the biggest problem of all.

His high-leverage appearances have been taken away from him and in an attempt to get him right, Aaron Boone brought him in with a six-run lead on Tuesday night in Anaheim. After recording the final out of the seventh inning, Green loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth before giving up a grand slam. After not getting a single swinging strike on Sunday on 12 pitches, he did manage to get two in his 18 pitches on Tuesday, but in neither game did he record a strikeout, something he hasn’t done now in six of his 10 outings.

Thankfully, the Yankees will get Gary Sanchez back on Wednesday, but they will still be without Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Didi Gregorius, Miguel Andujar and Aaron Hicks. The Yankees have to play near-perfect baseball with their current roster and make any run they’re able to score stand up to win games and keep pace with the Rays in the division until their regulars return.

I understand success for relievers is year to year, but this isn’t that. Even if Green had declined in performance from 2017 to 2018, it was a small decline. This is his performance falling off a cliff. In the last two weeks alone, he has broken open a 3-3 game for a loss, put a one-run deficit out of reach, helped blow a five-run lead and nearly blew a six-run lead. Right now, the only situation for Green is mop-up duty, in a game it would take a miracle for the Yankees to come back and win, and only being able to pitch in such a situation isn’t worthy of a roster spot.

I expect Green to become the latest Yankee to land on the injured list, whether or not he’s really injured. He needs time to figure it out and the Yankees can no longer afford to let him figure it out at the major league level.

***

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

Blogs • Yankees

Apr 23, 2019

The History of Aaron Hicks and His Back Injury

Today is April 24. April 1 was 23 days ago. April 1 was the day Aaron Hicks was initially expected to return to the Yankees lineup from his back injury. Hicks hurt his back in

Today is April 24. April 1 was 23 days ago. April 1 was the day Aaron Hicks was initially expected to return to the Yankees lineup from his back injury.

Hicks hurt his back in spring training … riding a bus … for 35 minutes. That’s right, Hicks originally got hurt on February 27 riding the team bus from Tampa to Lakeland for a spring training game.

“I got off the bus and it felt tight; I couldn’t swing,” Hicks said back in spring training. “Came back the next day and it was still tight … [then] played the night game two days later, and that’s kind of where I knew something was wrong.”

On March 1, the stiffness was still present in his lower back while taking batting practice before a game, so the Yankees shut him down. Ten days later on March 11, he received a cortisone shot to help with the pain.

Five days after the cortisone shot, while doing rotational activity exercises on March 16, Hicks complained of the same back stiffness. The following day (March 17), Hicks received a second cortisone shot.

“The first one definitely hit the spot, for sure. I made really big gains on that one,” Hicks said after the second cortisone shot. “The second one, I just feel like it was a little bit more to the left and it needs to be tended to. That was to knock it fully out.”

Despite Hicks not having played in a game in what was now over two weeks, Aaron Boone believes his center fielder could be capable of being in the lineup at the start of the season.

“I think he physically probably will be ready [for Opening Day],” Boone said even after the second cortisone shot. “We don’t think it’s going to be a long time for Hicks.”

The day of the second cortisone shot, Hicks tells reporters he won’t be playing in the opening series against Orioles (March 28-31), but expects to be in the lineup for the second series of the series against the Tigers on April 1.

Boone recognizes Hicks will have to begin the season on the injured list, but doesn’t think it will be a full 10-day stint.

“He could avoid a full [injured list] stay at the big league level because obviously we can backdate him,” Boone said. “He’ll start on the [injured list].”

Prior to the start of the first game of the season, the Yankees officially announce Hicks is being placed on the 10-day injured list.

On April 5 in Baltimore, Boone gives an update on Hicks.

“[Thursday] I believe he is starting baseball activities. He will be throwing [Thursday],” Boone said, “It’s been about a week or so where he has been feeling really well coming in every day.”

Boone then goes on to say he doesn’t think Hicks will need a full six-week spring training to get back, the same way he originally said he wouldn’t need a full 10-day injured list stint.

“I don’t think it will be six weeks, but he has to get some at-bats,”Boone said. “And once he gets back to the point where he is playing in [minor league] games, it’s not going to be just five or 10 games. He is going to have to play some and get built back up.”

On April 14, Hicks appears at Yankee Stadium. He’s in New York to take care of paperwork for his apartment and provides an update on his status.

“Hitting was a problem for me,” Hicks said before watching the Yankees lose to the White Sox. “Every time I hit [during rehab] was when it would start to fire up and start to be painful. The fact I’m moving forward past that is good.”

Hicks started tee-and-toss two days prior, finally swinging a bat for the first time in a month.

“I’ve been really testing it hard in the cage,” he said. “Putting my A swings into it to make sure it’s game-like.”

Boone, who originally estimated Hicks would return on April 1 was no longer willing to give a return date.

“Timeframe? I don’t know yet, “Boone said. “All I know is he’s doing really well. He seems to be completely healthy.”

Boone then goes on to say Hicks has been past the injury for a couple weeks, causing many to wonder why he is just now beginning to swing a bat.

“It’s been a couple weeks now, at least, where we feel he’s completely past the injury,” Boone said. “The ramp-up has just been a little slow.”

Two days later, on April 16, Hicks hits off a tee and throws on the field before the Yankees’ 8-0 win over the Red Sox.

“I took some really good swings today,” Hicks said, “Striking the ball good.”

Hicks says he expects to start taking batting practice the next day, or the day after that, but no one is sure when he will actually take batting practice.

“I thought I would miss a couple of [spring training] games,” Hicks added. “Obviously, that didn’t happen.

No, obviously it didn’t happen. It’s now been a week since Hicks expected to soon be taking practice and nearly two months since he first felt lower back stiffness following a 35-minute bus ride. We’re almost three weeks from when Boone said Hicks wouldn’t need a six-week spring training and no one is sure when he will play in a rehab game.

While this entire injured list stint has been a debacle because of the botched timetables provided by Hicks, Boone and the organization, the injury itself is nothing new when it comes to Hicks. His entire career has been marred by disabled and injured list trips for just about every conceivable non-surgery baseball injury.

In 2016, his first season with the Yankees, Hicks missed time due to shoulder bursitis and a hamstring strain, playing in 123 games.

In 2017, he played in only 88 games, going on the disabled twice, once for a right oblique strain and once for a left oblique strain.

In 2018, he got hurt on Opening Day and after one game was on the disabled list with a strained right intercostal muscle. He ended up playing in a career-high 137 regular-season games before once again getting hurt in the postseason and missing two of the four games in the ALDS.

Add in the 22 games Hicks has already missed this season and as a Yankee he’s played in just 348 of a possible 508 regular-season games, or 68.5 percent.

Hicks is going to be a Yankee for the foreseeable future after being extended through 2025 back on Feb. 25 — two days before the historic 35-minute bus ride — with a club option for the 2026 season.

Now 29, having spent his 20s trying to become an everyday major leaguer and then trying to stay off the disabled and injured list once he became one. He was successful at the former and miserably unsuccessful at the latter.

The Yankees have Hicks through at least his age 35 season, and it’s going to take a miracle for him to avoid missing so many games on the other side of 30 the way he has in his prime.

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