Aaron Hicks exits with hip injury in latest Yankees' woe
Aaron Hicks’ good fortune didn’t last long.
After he picked up his first extra-base hits of the season in his previous two games, Hicks left the Yankees’ 10-5 win over the Athletics on Tuesday night before the fourth inning with left hip tightness.
He will be evaluated on Wednesday and his status is considered day-to-day.
Hicks started in left field and walked and scored in the Yankees’ five-run third inning.
He felt the tightness rounding third while scoring on an Anthony Rizzo single and was removed after the inning, with Oswaldo Cabrera moving from third base to left and Isiah Kiner-Falefa entering at third.
“I was finally starting to slow the ball down,’’ Hicks said of the frustration of the timing of the injury. “My at-bats were a little more controlled. It definitely sucks to go backwards.”
Hicks doubled on Sunday at Tampa Bay and followed that by hitting his first home run of 2023 on Monday night against Oakland. Based in part on those results, manager Aaron Boone opted to start Hicks in left on Tuesday.
Asked if the decision was based on matchups or Hicks’ recent uptick in production, Boone said, “A little bit of both.”
Boone and the Yankees had hoped the pair of productive days at the plate would alleviate some of the pressure Hicks has been under during an abysmal start to this season after a miserable 2022.
Aaron Hicks had his first two extra-base hits of the season in his previous two games. AP
Carlos Rodon received cortisone injections on Tuesday that are expected to alleviate the discomfort in his tight back, which the left-hander said doctors have called a “chronic” condition. The back problem has derailed Rodon’s recovery from a left forearm strain that has sidelined him since the spring.
“We’ll see now,’’ Boone said of the next step. “There’s 48 hours of not doing much at all, then hopefully on Friday he’ll start exercising and then throwing by the weekend.
Oswald Peraza was placed on the injured list with a right ankle sprain, retroactive to Saturday, to make room for the return of Aaron Judge.
Boone said Peraza has “been doing well in recent days, but still had some hesitancy moving side-to-side and making plays in the hole at shortstop.
“It’s getting over that final hump,’’ Boone said of why the decision was made to send Peraza to the IL.
He could go on a brief rehab assignment soon.’’
Josh Donaldson went through a full workout Tuesday as he closes in on his return from a strained right hamstring.
He looked healthy taking batting practice and doing drills at third base. Boone pointed to a potential rehab assignment beginning “hopefully at the end of the week or next week.”
Giancarlo Stanton (strained left hamstring) ran on the field Tuesday and Boone said he’s “probably a week behind” Donaldson in his recovery.
Luis Severino will make a rehab start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday. Severino had expressed a desire to push it to Thursday, which is a night game, instead of Wednesday, which is an 11 a.m. start.
Luis Severino Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The right-hander, who has been out since he suffered a strained right lat during spring training, is hoping to make just two rehab starts before returning to the Yankees’ rotation.
Greg Weissert, who was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before the game, was roughed up in one-plus inning of work. He was optioned back to SWB after the game. He replaced Nick Martinez, who was optioned after the win Monday.
Anthony Volpe has stayed atop the batting order — at least for now. Asked if that would remain the case when, or if, the Yankees’ offense gets healthy, Boone was unsurprisingly noncommittal.
“We’ll see,’’ Boone said of Volpe, who snapped an 0-for-17 funk with seven strikeouts by tripling in the eighth inning. “It’s possible. As we get more guys back, we’ll let that play out. That’s a conversation for another day.”
Boone reiterated he likes the rookie shortstop leading off.
“Even the last few days, when I don’t think he had a lot of hits, but if you look at the Tampa [Bay] series and I think he led off every game with a bullet for an out,” Boone said. “He’s having the right at-bats and mixing in that walk.”
Source: New York Post
