Yankees need Aaron Hicks to produce better results at home

I’ve been a supporter of Aaron Hicks since he first came to the Yankees in 2016, but this season, his lack of offensive production is fast making him a late-inning defensive replacement.

I’m well aware how impressive Aaron Hicks’ defensive game is. I also know that the Yankees have plenty of firepower in their lineup to support a struggling switch-hitter with the “potential” to go on a week-long tear.

However, if Hicks can’t get his bat going at Yankee Stadium as compared to the way he does when playing on the road, the Yanks may be forced to consider platooning Hicks until his offensive ability catches up with the other plus attributes of his skillset.

In 162 plate appearances this season, the 28-year-old is slashing .230/.335/.400 with two triples, five home runs, 20 RBI and a 28:22 K:BB ratio. Though Hicks’ OBP is solid, thanks to those 22 base on balls, two of his five homers are of the inside the park variety. So please, take that with a grain of salt.

At the friendly confines of Yankee Stadium, Hicks in slashing a dreadful .153/.284/.222 in 72 at-bats while hitting just one home run, driving in nine men and accumulating a 16:13 K:BB ratio.

Perhaps Hicks is struggling in the Bronx because he’s trying too hard to take advantage of the short right-field porch. Of his 55 at-bats versus right-handed pitching, Hicks has pulled the ball 52.6 percent of the time as opposed to hitting the ball up the middle 31.6 percent and 15.8 percent to the opposite field.

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Claiming someone a worthy pull-hitter is fine when the results warrant the designation. Right now, at least at home, Hicks doesn’t.

However, in 23 at-bats on the road from the left-hand side of the plate, Hicks is slashing .304/.346/.522 while pulling the ball with even greater frequency: 63.2 percent — 26.3 percent to center field and 10.5 percent the opposite way.

Overall, Hicks’ comfortability is much more evident when wearing the Yankee greys: .317/.397/.603 in 63 at-bats while hitting four homers, 11 RBI and a 13:9 K:BB ratio.

Aside from his innate ability to patrol center field with the games very best, Hicks has two other factors currently going in his favor.

For one, he still has another season of arbitration eligibility. At his current price of $2.85 million, the Yankees are in no rush to shed his highly-affordable contract.

And two, the leading man that could potentially take playing time away from Hicks, Clint Frazier, is stuck in Triple-A Scranton because of a 25-man roster jam, the likes of which we haven’t witnessed for quite some time.

If you feel that Frazier doesn’t have the acumen to play center field, then please read some of what I’ve written in the past about his above average defense. While Frazier may not be “elite” with the glove like Hicks, Red Thunder’s bat can more than makeup up for any deficiencies.

And that’s the quandary as I see it. To begin the season, the Bombers were adamant about not sacrificing team defense for extra offense — which is why rookies Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar started the year in the minors.

Yet look at the impact both have had on the 34-17 Yankees since their arrival to the big leagues. In Tuesday night’s 6-5 come from behind victory over the Astros, the rookies were again catalysts for 10th inning heroics — albeit Torres made two errors and Andujar one, earlier in the contest.

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If given a legit opportunity, there’s no reason why Frazier can’t become the latest youthful Yankee to achieve great things. A quick look at his Triple-A stats proves he’s more than ready for the challenge.

And don’t give me this wait ’til next year stuff. Because if Frazier isn’t dealt before the trade deadline for a starting pitcher, why not remove one of the excess first basemen for an outfielder that can either push Hicks to be better right now or out of the lineup altogether?