BOSTON — Not only did the Yankees spend the early part of Saturday marinating in Friday night’s one-run ALDS defeat to the Red Sox at Fenway Park, they were awaiting word if they also lost Aaron Hicks due to a right hamstring issue that forced him out of Friday night’s game in the fourth inning.
The answer to the question was yes and no after Hicks underwent a MRI exam Saturday that came back clean, according to manager Aaron Boone.
Hicks was left out of the Yankees’ lineup for Game 2 Saturday night, but Boone said the switch-hitting center fielder was well enough to pinch-hit in a big spot, and that he was looking for Hicks to be ready for Game 3 Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
“Just decided to hold him out,’’ Boone said of Hicks, who went through a workout on the field long before the Yankees took batting practice. “Decided we didn’t want to risk anything as far as him starting and having to pull him in the third inning. Decided it would be best to have him as a weapon on the bench and deploy him whenever we need him [Saturday night], which I wouldn’t hesitate to do. Hopefully we get through [Saturday] and with the day off [Sunday] I would expect him back in the lineup for Game 3.’’
Boone replaced Hicks in Game 1 with Brett Gardner, who was in center batting ninth against lefty David Price in Game 2.
“He is a great defender and gives us quality at-bats,’’ Boone said of Gardner.
Hicks missed three games (Sept. 24-27) against the Rays with tightness in his left hamstring. He returned for the final three regular-season games against the Red Sox at Fenway and went 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs in the first game.
Counting the three regular-season games, the AL wild card and Game 1 of the ALDS, the switch-hitting Hicks is 5-for-16 (.313) with a homer and four RBIs since returning to action.
“Before the game it started cramping up a little bit,’’ Hicks said after the loss, in which nine of the Yankees’ 10 hits were singles. “It sucks to have to come out of [the] game. I feel good right. We will see how it goes.’’
An encouraging sign was Hicks saying the current hamstring problem was not as serious as the one in the other leg.
“It’s not that much pain at all. I was trying to stay in the game, but my body language was saying I should get out,’’ said Hicks, who walked in the first against Chris Sale and singled in the fourth.
During Giancarlo Stanton’s at-bat in the fourth, Hicks caught the medical staff’s eye in the dugout and started doing squats to test the hamstring. After several squats Hicks left the game.
While Gardner is a capable center fielder, Hicks’ bat will be hard to replace. A lot of attention in the Yankee outfield goes to right fielder Aaron Judge, but Hicks posted career highs in home runs (27), RBIs (79) and games played (137) this past season. His .366 on-base percentage was second to Judge’s .392 among Yankees who appeared in 100 or more games.
Having Hicks to pinch-hit is a plus, because if the hamstring forced the Yankees to delete him from the roster he wouldn’t have been eligible to play in the ALCS if they get by the Red Sox. He would be eligible for the World Series, however.
Hicks played on Opening Day in Toronto and suffered a right intercostal injury that landed him on the DL the next day. He returned April 12 and avoided further upper body injuries like the two oblique strains that landed him on the DL twice in 2017.
