Yankees: Aaron Hicks should learn from Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes

Coming into last season, there were a lot of reasons to be excited about the Mets. Which is why Aaron Hicks of the Yankees should heed notice.

Yankees centerfielder Aaron Hicks: this one is for you.

Mets’ pitching prospects Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo had shined in their debuts the previous year, the rotation that they rode to the World Series were in their primes.

Stars Yoenis Cespedes and Noah Syndergaard had each added even more muscle to their already sturdy frames. Many of the position players who were injured in 2016 were coming back.

Top prospect Ahmed Rosario was waiting in the wings for a call-up. The Mets were a legitimate preseason World Series contender and were considered good enough to keep up with or even overtake the Nationals.

Instead, the Mets finished the season 22 games under .500 and behind the Marlins and Braves. Even the Padres finished the season with a better record than the Mets.

So what happened?

Well, the easy answer is injuries, but, it’s more than that. You can pin it on the Mets’ training staff or their management (or lack thereof). Really, it all started back in April.

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The Mets had been doing pretty well at the time. However, on April 28th, Cespedes went down with a strained left hamstring. He came back in June only to go right back on the DL in August with a right hamstring strain.

Even coming into the season, it was clear to the Mets that having a healthy Cespedes was an absolute necessity to the Mets’ success.

In one and a half seasons with the Mets, they now own a 106-74 record with Cespedes in the starting lineup and an 18-23 record without him.

What’s so special about those injuries? Cespedes’ thighs were where he added most of his muscle through an intense weightlifting program. Without Cespedes, the Mets couldn’t function and before long they were falling out of contention.

Similarly, Noah Syndergaard rode a venison fueled diet to 17 extra pounds of muscle in the offseason. This led to a lot of hype over just how good he’d be now that he was even stronger.

Instead of pitching deeper into games as Syndergaard intended, the flamethrower only managed 30.1 innings the whole season.

This offseason, Aaron Hicks adopted a training program meant to get him ripped.

And boy has it worked. Comparisons have been made referencing Barry Bonds’ early Pirates days to his glory days with the Giants.

Many got excited about how quickly Hicks would reach his superstar potential and hit 30+ home runs.

Obviously, that is what we are all rooting for and if he does great. However, that likely won’t happen. In baseball, more muscle doesn’t always mean better performance. This offseason, catcher Gary Sanchez worked to do the opposite; he tried to slim down and drop a few pounds of muscle.

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One full month prior to the Yankees signing Giancarlo Stanton, Dan Symborski, wrote for ESPN.com, saying the Yankees roster was superior to the Red Sox.

As the Yankees’ likely opening day starter, Hicks, hopefully, proves me wrong and hits 30 home runs this year en route to an all Yankees All-Star outfield.

However, Hicks likely gets injured at some point which means the Yankees will have to start Jacoby Ellsbury for a few weeks. That being said, it would be wise for Hicks to be careful not to fall into the same trap as Cespedes and Thor — and hopefully, he can enjoy a successful injury free year.