Yankees: How important will Aaron Hicks be in 2019?

After having a career-year a season ago, Aaron Hicks is looking to continue improving in 2019. With a stacked outfield, how important is it to have Hicks in center field for the Yankees?

Let’s talk about that career season last year. Hicks had career highs in basically every single category including hits, doubles, homers, and walks. He was even among some of the top performers for the Yankees last year.

Hicks slashed .248/.366/.467, among the highest of his six-year career. His wRC+ of 127 ranked fifth among other Yankees and fourth in the MLB for CF who had 550 or more PA. He set a new career high with 79 runs batted in and showed some power with 27 home runs. His performance was good, that Hicks was nominated and in the voting for AL MVP and received one vote.

You could say after gaining a vote in the AL MVP race, Hicks should be gleaming with confidence. This is a great thought, as the Yankees have a good standing as one of the best outfields in baseball. According to MLB Network, Hicks is ranked as the fourth-best centerfielder in the MLB. Stanton is ranked at number two in left and Judge is the top-ranked right fielder heading into 2019.

His importance also comes with his ability to switch hit at the plate. The Yankees are heading into 2019 with a batting order that’s right-handed heavy. Of his 27 total long balls, 18 of them came from the left side of the plate against right-handed pitching. Even more, that short porch in right was very helpful for Hicks, as 11 of his 15 Yankee Stadium home runs were to right field.

Hicks should also have extra motivation to perform this season because 2019 is a contract year for him. He signed a 1 yr/$6M deal with the Yankees and avoided arbitration. Can we see a repeat performance for him with free agency looming in 2020?

Behind Hicks, Stanton and Judge in the outfield, there is Brett Gardner and Clint Frazier. Each is in an interesting position coming into this season and should fight for playing time in left field. Obviously, Stanton and Judge aren’t going to be in the lineup every day for the Yankees, and each will see there fair share of starts at DH. So that leaves each of them with some time to fill in for both left and right field.

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Frazier, 24, is fighting his way back from the post-concussion symptoms he faced all of last season and is on a mission. Frazier wants a starting job in the outfield and is ready to leapfrog Gardener.

Gardner is 35 and seemingly nearing the latter stage of his career. He is among one of the better defensive outfielders in the MLB and is still adequate from the plate. The competition between Gardner and Frazier in spring training will be fun to see, but Gardner should be the favorite to win the job.

In centerfield, Aaron Hicks is one of the most important players on this 25-man roster. Out of 272 chances at the position, he made only two errors and held a fielding percentage of .993. His fielding percentage was fifth among all centerfielders that manned the position for over 1000 innings.

As the Yankees are tooling up for another run at the playoffs and a coveted World Series championship, Aaron Hicks will once again play a key part in how far they go.