Have the New York Yankees Lost Confidence in Brett Gardner?

When the New York Yankees acquired Aaron Hicks from the Minnesota Twins last November it was unclear how much playing time he would log in early 2016

Moments after completing the deal during the annual GM meetings, Brian Cashman told Joel Sherman of The New York Post that he believed Aaron Hicks is an ‘everyday player’  who would ‘at least replace [Chris] Young.’

That said, at first glance I thought Aaron Hicks was an inexpensive and younger upgrade over Chris Young – another fourth outfielder who can mash left-handed pitching. Despite Cashman saying Hicks is an ‘everyday player’, I always saw this deal as a minor trade that would help the Yankees get younger and more athletic, but I firmly believed that Hicks would be limited to just a bench player. Sure Hicks had some potential upside, but when you take a look at his offensive metrics outside of Target Field, there isn’t a whole lot to be excited about.

However, fast forward to the start of the regular season, which will unfortunately take place on Tuesday after the Yankees postponed their  home-opener early Monday morning, and it appears as if Aaron Hicks will get the nod over Yankees veteran Brett Gardner when they face-off against southpaw Dallas Keuchel and the Houston Astros.

One might suggest that Hicks (2-for-5 against Keuchel) is a better offensive option than Brett Gardner (0-for-4 against Keuchel), but is this really a matter of Joe Girardi trying to start his best possible lineup on Opening Day?

After all, the $153 million-dollar-man Jacoby Ellsbury  is only 2-for-7 off Keuchel and if I recall correctly it was Ellbruy who rode the pine-pony when the Yankees faced off against the Astros ace during the 2015 American League Wild Card Play-In game.

But perhaps we should take a look at OPS against left-handed pitching.

In 2015 the newly acquired Aaron Hicks posted an .870 OPS in 112 plate appearances. Compared to the other three Yankees outfielders (Carlos Beltran .752 OPS, Brett Gardner .761 OPS, Jacoby Ellsbury .652 OPS) Hicks is clearly the superb left-handed-hitter, but why would Ellsbury and his putrid OPS off southpaws ever start over Gardner?

My first reaction (and maybe I’m thinking too much into this) is that the Joe Girardi and the New York Yankees might have lost complete confidence in the 32-year-old Brett Gardner. Not only was he the subject of trade rumors throughout the off-season, but his reckless and gritty style of play on the diamond has consistently caused his body to breakdown season after season.

It’s also unfortunate that the Yankees have so much money invested in the oft-injured Jacoby Ellsbury. Very often in professional sports you’ll see teams give countless opportunities to players under-large contracts to prove that they can somehow live up to these overpaid contracts, which is also the case with the Yankees and CC Sabathia getting the nod over Ivan Nova and Bryan Mitchell (before he was injured) as the teams fifth-starter.

What do you think Yankees fans?

Has Joe Girardi given up on Brett Gardner? Let us know in the comments below.