The Yankees entered Wednesday with the highest slugging percentage in the American League, a product mostly of their top five hitters — Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu.
One member of the lineup who has shown some promising signs, but not hit for power, is Aaron Hicks.
He entered Tuesday with the lowest slugging percentage of any Yankee lineup regular (.294) and he’s been especially unproductive from the left side of the plate.
Hicks is confident the power will come and it’s not a result of the surgery he had last season to repair a torn sheath in his left wrist.
“The wrist is great,’’ Hicks said.
But through 87 plate appearances, Hicks had just one extra-base hit.
So where has the power gone?
According to Hicks, it’s more a product of all the time he’s missed — not just last season, but since 2019.
“I just think a lot of it is seeing big league pitching and how it’s evolved and changed,’’ Hicks said. “There’s more offspeed stuff now than fastballs and I’m trying to game plan against it.”
It’s something he didn’t do much of when he was limited to 32 games last season.
The last time he appeared in more than 59 games was in 2018, when Hicks played 132 games — although he was largely healthy during the 2020 season that was shortened to 60 games due to COVID.
“I’m just trying to get back to where I was,’’ Hicks said. “I was focused on trying to get hits and make sure I got off to a good start and I think I did pretty well with that.”
He still considers power to be an important part of his game and believes it will return as he gets more comfortable at the plate.
“I’ve been hitting the ball the other way left-handed, which is not usual for me,’’ Hicks said. “The more at-bats I get, the more I’ll be back to my old self.”
He entered Tuesday 11-for-34 from the left side — all singles. And he was 6-for-21 batting right-handed, with a homer.
“I’m just missing some pitches, which I think is because I was out for so long last year and then we had the shortened spring training,’’ Hicks said of the truncated spring caused by the MLB lockout in the offseason. “I haven’t been able to lock in.”
Runs and power have been down around the majors, with factors including the typical cold weather, improved pitching and the possibility of deadened balls.
Hicks hasn’t been able to pinpoint the issue, but scouts are conflicted about what to make of Hicks’ start.
“He’s been patient and getting on base, but I’ve been waiting for him to flash that power,’’ said one AL scout. “It’s not always there consistently, but it always comes out at some point.”
Another scout pointed to Mark Teixeira, who had a wrist injury similar to Hicks and needed about a year to rediscover his power stroke.
“I don’t think everyone recovers the same way, especially with something like that,’’ the NL scout said.
Hicks’ average exit velocity is right around his career numbers.
“I think he’s healthy and the warmer weather and more at-bats will get him back to where he was,’’ the NL scout said.