Yankees: Aaron Hicks should bat leadoff instead of Brett Gardner

Over the past couple months, Aaron Hicks has been the Yankees leadoff hitter against left-handed starters but that hasn’t been the case against righties. As Brett Gardner continues to struggle in the second half it might be time to make Hicks the primary leadoff guy and move Gardner to the bottom of the order.

Hicks has had a career year for the Yankees and it’s hard to imagine where this team would be in the standings without him. He’s been a consistent source of production for a while now and has stepped up big time to make up for the absences of Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez from the lineup.

Hicks in 2018: .253 AVG, 21 HR, 61 RBI, .370 OBP, .840 OPS, 71 R

He’s batted all over the top and the middle of the order due to all the injuries, but to me, his best spot is leading off. Hicks has found the most success batting clean up this season with a .364 AVG in 33 at-bats but batting leadoff is where he’s shown the most power in 111 at-bats. Hicks has 10 home runs batting first and a very respectable .270 AVG and .366 OBP.

His combination of power and plate discipline has made him one of the most complete hitters in the Yankees lineup this season and it’s what makes him such a good fit leading off. Nothing against Brett Gardner, but his time batting leadoff and playing for the Yankees could be running out. He’s the longest-tenured Yankee but he’s a free agent at seasons end and while it wouldn’t surprise me to see Gardner back next season it would surprise me if he came back as an everyday player.

The 35-year old veteran has struggled a lot during the second half of seasons in recent years and that’s been no different this season. He’s batting .206 post-All-Star break with five home runs and only 16 RBI. He still walks a decent amount which is why his OBP is up to .333 compared to his lackluster .240 AVG, but he hasn’t shown many signs that he’s close to breaking out of this extended slump.

Gardner still grinds out at-bats and makes opposing pitchers work, but that shouldn’t be enough to keep him at the top of the order. Gardner should still be playing every day until Aaron Judge or Clint Frazier can somehow get healthy but moving forward Hicks makes the most sense leading off.

Especially once Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius can return because then the Yankees can afford to move Hicks to the top and still have a powerful middle of the order. Once they get back here’s the lineup I would go with against righties:

1. Hicks
2. Stanton
3. Didi
4. Andujar
5. Sanchez
6. Walker
7. Torres
8. Voit/Bird
9. Gardner

With this lineup, the Yankees would have their four most consistent hitters starting things off and still have a very deep bottom half of the order. With Gardner batting ninth he can essentially serve as a second leadoff guy and make things very difficult for opposing starters before the lineup turns back over to the big boppers at the top.

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It also allows Boone to continue to split up the righties and lefties for the most part and make it tough for opposing bullpens to match up later in games.

If Judge can ever come back he would go back to the two hole and Neil Walker would be the odd man out in the lineup. Stanton would bat fourth behind Didi while Andujar and Sanchez would slide to fifth and sixth respectively.

With or without Judge the lineup above gives the Yankees their most dangerous order from top to bottom and the best chance to win. Hicks has earned the right to be the primary leadoff guy not just for the rest of the season but for next season as well and the seasons to follow. In today’s game, you want a leadoff hitter who not only works deep counts but one who can also give the team a quick lead with one swing of the bat. Hicks can do that from both sides of the plate.

Gardner is still a very important player to this Yankee team and the leader inside that clubhouse but he’s past his prime while Hicks is just entering his. It’s time to make a change.