Aaron Hicks said he last spent time in the infield as a freshman in high school, yet there he was before Tuesday’s game against the Diamondbacks, taking grounders at second base.
Don’t be too surprised to see Hicks there at some point as part of a five-man infield, particularly with Zack Britton on the mound.
“It’s something we’ve toyed with a little bit,’’ Aaron Boone told The Post, without getting into specifics.
Infield coach Carlos Mendoza said the Yankees could put Hicks on the right side of the infield in situations where a shift could be used.
Britton said it’s something his former manager in Baltimore, Buck Showalter, talked about, but never implemented.
It’s based on the fact Britton induces so many grounders, and even the best shift can’t stop them all.
This season, Britton’s ground ball rate of 77.8 percent is the third highest of his career, while his fly ball rate of 9.4 percent is the third lowest.
Britton pointed to a single hit by Andrew Benintendi on Sunday in Boston that might have been stopped by an added infielder.
With the increased reliance on analytics, the Yankees could turn to the atypical setup.
“I’m OK with it,’’ Hicks said before going 0-for-4 in the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks on Friday night at the Stadium.