Yankees OF Aaron Hicks was placed on the 10-day IL on May 15 after suffering a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, and now he’ll undergo surgery to repair it.
Manager Aaron Boone spoke to the media on Friday before the team’s game against the Chicago White Sox, and updated Hicks’ status.
“Aaron Hicks is gonna go the surgery route now,” Boone said. “He’s actually flying back to Arizona tomorrow. I know we’re in the process of scheduling surgery with Dr. Sheridan out in Arizona, I’m not sure what day it’ll be. But he is going to have surgery.”
Hicks hasn’t played since May 12 against the Tampa Bay Rays, and was in the lineup for their game on May 13, but was a late scratch. Boone would go on to mention that it’s unclear if Hicks will be able to return this season, as the recovery from surgery will be a few months.
“I’m not sure, I know it’s months, plural,” Boone said. “I don’t know how many. I’d rather let’s get through the surgery, and see what they say about it about a potential timeline. And if that puts any point at the end of the season at play or not, probably too early to speculate on that. But it’s going to be a while.”
In 32 games this season, the 31-year-old veteran is slashing just .194/.294/.333 with four home runs and 14 RBI. Hicks’ best season in pinstripes came in 2018 when he batted .248 with 27 home runs and 79 RBI in 137 games.
Boone is unsure how long this injury has been bothering Hicks, but since it’s now become consistent it has affected his swing at the plate.
“Yeah I think it just started to become now a consistent issue for him,” Boone said. “Whereas who knows when this thing first happened, whether it’s been months whether it’s been years. Every now and then something would flare up on him, but it usually went away right away. This time it’s continued to linger. I don’t think he’s in a lot of pain, but he’s definitely feels it when he’s swinging. It doesn’t allow him to swing the bat the way he needs to swing the bat. Going through the medicine route, seeing how that declared itself, this is the next right step for Aaron to hopefully put this behind him.”
Without Hicks in the lineup, the Yanks will turn to veteran OF Brett Gardner. Boone also noted that Clint Frazier, who’s been dealing with neck issues, will see doctors this afternoon to determine his availability.
“Gardy’s in there tonight, and we’ll see where we are with Frazier in a couple hours after he sees our doctors,” Boone said. “Obviously Tyler Wade can go out there, and we’ll just have to figure it out on the fly a bit if a situation comes up. But obviously Gardy’s out there now.”