Yankees News: Aaron Hicks Out At Least 4-5 Days

Recent New York Yankees news involving outfielder Aaron Hicks wasn’t overly positive, as he received a cortisone shot and will be out at least 4-5 days.

New York Yankees news regarding outfielder Aaron Hicks hasn’t improved much. Hicks injured his left shoulder attempting to make a diving play in the gap Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays. He was removed from the game, but the Yankees did not expect much to be made of it.

But, Hicks showed up Saturday reporting no improvement in his condition. As a result, an MRI was scheduled. The MRI confirmed that there was inflammation in the shoulder, and he received a cortisone shot. Manager Joe Girardi called the injury traumatic bursitis, and as a result he will be out of action for at least the next four or five days.

“I’ll be down a couple of days,” Hicks said following the Yankees’ 3-2 win over Tampa Bay. “It all depends on how I feel.” Hicks admitted when talking to people that it felt a little worse than it did Friday, which is not an encouraging sign.

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The Yankees will see how the cortisone shot feels, but if there is no improvement Hicks will more than likely be placed on the disabled list. The Yankees will play a man down until then, as they will not make a roster move until they are sure that Hicks will not be able to contribute in the near future.

The injury comes at a poor time for the Yankees, as Hicks is their right-handed bat in the outfield. Girardi has been opting to use Hicks in the lineup against left-handed starters, sitting Jacoby Ellsbury or Brett Gardner at his expense. It probably would have happened often over the next couple of days, as the Yankees probable opponents in three of their next four games are left-handed pitchers.

The Yankees offense hasn’t been lighting the world on fire against anyone, but against lefties it has been a struggle. Heading into Saturday afternoon’s game, the Yankees were slashing a paltry .235/.324/.315 against southpaws, numbers that have to come up if they want to turn around their slow start.

As a result of the offensive struggles, the Yankees themselves are neutralizing their own best weapon; the late inning bullpen arms. The combination of Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller was dominant last season, and is once again thus far in 2016. But, with the offense struggling as much as they are, the duo has not been able to showcase their stuff in late game situations.

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The Hicks injury probably won’t help much against lefties, as Girardi has been insistent on benching one of Ellsbury or Gardner against lefties all season. Now he will have to count on them, at least in the coming days, as it would be tough imagine him benching one of them for utility man Dustin Ackley, who has only seven at-bats on the season.

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