Wrist issue forces Hicks to injured list
After Saturday’s 8-2 win over the Orioles, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that outfielder Aaron Hicks would be placed on the injured list for the torn tendon sheath in his left wrist. The Yankees signed outfielder Ryan LaMarre to a Major League contract and selected him from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday.
Hicks has been taking anti-inflammatory medication to deal with the injury since an MRI he underwent on Wednesday revealed the tear. He took swings in the batting cage on Saturday, and the results of that pushed the Yankees to act.
“He’s doing better; it’s less pain and stuff in there, I think as a result of the medicine, but when he tried to swing from even both sides of the plate today, it wasn’t what we were looking for and he was looking for,” Boone said.
While surgery has been suggested as a possible outcome, which Boone admitted “is still certainly on the table,” he also made it clear that the Yankees are not thinking that far ahead, instead hoping the injury is still manageable in terms of days rather than weeks.
The potential loss of Hicks for any period of time is a big setback to the Yankees, however, particularly in their depth-tested outfield. Boone acknowledged as much, though he also noted that the club doesn’t have time to feel sorry for itself.
“Any time you lose one of your key players, that’s a blow, no question about it,” Boone said. “And obviously when Hicksy’s at his best, he’s playing center field [and] being a switch-hitter in our lineup, which balances us out a little bit. But it’s also part of it. You’re going to have some attrition along the way and you’re going to have some guys go down, and it creates an opportunity for someone else to step up.
“You always want to support the guys that are going through it because I know how frustrating and difficult it is for Aaron not being able to go out there and play the way he’s capable of. So you feel for that and try to support him in that, but you also realize it’s an opportunity for someone else to have a role and step up and add production to this lineup.”