Aaron Judge turned back Aaron Hicks. Now the hulking slugger has to prove the Yankees made the correct call in right field.
Anointed by Hal Steinbrenner as the right fielder in the offseason, Judge eked past Hicks and will be in right field Sunday against the Rays on Opening Day at Tropicana Field.
“It’s great, but for me the mindset is the same. The object was to take a job. Now that you got one, the hard part is to keep it,’’ Judge said before the Yankees whipped the Phillies, 14-1, at Spectrum Field Thursday. “For me it’s sticking to my plan now.’’
Joe Girardi announced the Opening Day roster Thursday, and Luis Severino copped the fourth starter’s spot. Jordan Montgomery, Chad Green and Luis Cessa will compete in the minors for the fifth spot, which the team won’t need until April 16.
Bryan Mitchell, Chasen Shreve and Jonathan Holder join Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Adam Warren, Tommy Layne and Tyler Clippard in the bullpen.
Hicks, who had a strong spring, returns to the fourth outfielder role in which he didn’t perform well for the first four months of last season, when he batted .187 (39-for-209). Given consistent playing time after Carlos Beltran was dealt in late July, the switch-hitting Hicks batted .271 (32-for-118) across the final two months.
“That was a very tough call,” Girardi said of Judge over Hicks. “We thought Judge won the competition.”
Disappointed he didn’t win, Hicks praised the 6-foot-7, 280-pound Judge’s spring.
“He played very well. He did everything he was supposed to do. He hit, obviously the most important thing, and played great defense,’’ Hicks said of Judge, who batted .344 (21-for-61) with three homers and seven RBIs. “He just did it, did a very good job.’’
As decision day neared, Judge didn’t seem tight. After hearing the news, he didn’t do a celebration dance.
“A lot of people are only going off a month in the big leagues. For me, it’s about improving, making adjustments, getting used to pitchers and barreling up balls,’’ Judge said. “Swing at the right pitches and getting comfortable.’’
Girardi made it clear the right-handed hitting Judge, who turns 25 in late April, will be play regularly and not in a platoon.
“Our plan is to play him every day,” the manager said. “And play Hicks against left-handers.”
That will allow the switch-hitting Hicks to spell Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury, according to Girardi, “hopefully more than once a week.”
Well aware of Judge’s struggles a year ago, Girardi was impressed with Judge’s spring, and insisted this isn’t just a short-term move that would be reversed if Judge gets off to a slow start.
“He has room,” Girardi said. “He’s our right fielder, and we’re going to run him out there. It’s not going to be day to day or week to week. He’s going to play.”
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Girardi liked the fact that Judge improved as the spring unfolded and cut down on his strikeouts.
“He had more consistent at-bats,” Girardi said of Judge who has fanned 13 times in 61 at-bats after striking out 42 times in 84 big league at-bats last year, when he hit .179 in 27 games..
Hicks will have to develop a better plan coming off the bench than he had last year and get over the disappointment of not becoming a starter.
“Of course, I worked real hard this offseason to be the right fielder, and it didn’t work out,’’ Hicks said when asked if he was disappointed.
Because he focused on being the starter, he hasn’t put much thought into what he needs to do better than he did the first four months of last season.
“My mindset was I wanted to be the starting right fielder, so now I have to figure out a routine to make sure I’m prepared for the games that I’m going to play,’’ said Hicks, who is hitting .273 (15-for-55) this spring with three homers and seven RBIs. “I will talk to A.C. [Alan Cockrell, the hitting coach] about it.’’