The question to Yankees manager Aaron Boone was simple. Did you ever think Aaron Hicks, he of the 43 career homers entering 2018, was capable of 22 home runs in a season?
Boone’s answer was simple.
“Yeah. He’s really talented.”
No arguments there.
Neil Walker’s ninth-inning pinch-hit homer walked off the 5-4 victory over the White Sox, but it was Hicks’ blast in the eighth inning, a two-run shot to right, that not only tied the game but infused Yankee Stadium with energy and electricity.
“He gets up there and you hope he gets a hit and comes through with a home run,” Walker said. “And we feel we have the momentum on our side.”
The Yankees finished off Chicago the next inning. But Hicks put them in position to do so with his first game-tying homer since Aug. 17, 2015, when he was with the Twins.
“Whenever you come back like that, it gets you going, especially here,” said Hicks, whose previous career high in homers was the 15 he bashed for the Yankees last year.
That was when he showed he was someone special, Boone said.
“That revealed itself last year when he came into his own at the big-league level and he’s taken obviously another big step this year as one of the really underrated players in our game today,” Boone said with unabashed praised of his switch hitter who filled in the No. 3 spot Tuesday. “He is a premium player playing a premium position.”
Giving premium results. Hicks has collected 16 of his homers in his last 62 games. And he’s not just a Murderers’ Row sort of bopper, having walked 31 times in 35 games since the All-Star break. That’s the sort of stuff that gets overlooked, the stuff that makes him underrated.
But the Yankees are nicknamed the “Bronx Bombers” not the “Jerome Avenue Joggers” or “City Saunterers.” They hit homers. And two of their leading mashers, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, are down injured. Hicks insisted that does not affect his approach in any way.
“Not at all. Just trying to get on base, try to hit balls hard,” said Hicks who was 1-of-3 with the homer — and a walk, of course. “Pretty much all I’ve been trying to do all season.”
