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Yankees fans booing Aaron Hicks louder than ever vs Phillies led to Aaron Judge intervention

Adam Weinrib
Adam Weinrib

Yanks Go Yard

Philadelphia Phillies v New York Yankees / New York Yankees/GettyImages

Usually, the boo birds come out for the guys in red when Philadelphia sports is involved. On Tuesday, the loudest jeers came from Yankees fans whenever Aaron Hicks ... well, whenever he did anything, really.

Coming off a 3-1 start to the season and facing the 0-4 Phillies, Aaron Boone decided to give Hicks his second consecutive start, following an opening series against the Giants where he earned just one pinch-hitting appearance (the ump fumbled the zone and cheated him out of a walk against Camilo Doval).

Typically, complaining to the media about your nebulous role isn't the key to more playing time in New York, but it worked for Hicks this week.

What didn't work for Hicks this week? Everything else.

He was booed pregame Tuesday, just like he was during the Opening Day pregame ceremony. He was booed when he popped out on the second pitch of his first at-bat. And he was booed way louder than ever when he struck out in the fifth inning.

Aaron Judge, Captain that he is, did the ol' Greg Weissert and blocked the camera while Hicks stewed at the bat rack. Kudos to the Captain, but Hicks' charade has gone on far enough, and it goes beyond his play.

Yankees fans boo Aaron Hicks into oblivion vs Phillies, to bench on Wednesday?

They don't make 'em like Judge very often, do they? He doesn't care about the backstory. He just sees a teammate in need, someone he's shared a locker room with since 2016.

That said, after Hicks complained about his role and "facing closers" this week and was rewarded (alrighty...), he really needed to come out against Philadelphia with renewed fervor. Unfortunately, he looked just as weak at the plate as ever.

Combine this difficult series with Hicks' perceived lack of effort (and the Rays play that doomed his 2022 season and borderline got him banned from home games), and it's past time to find a more permanent solution here.

A solution that doesn't involve Judge blotting out the sun when things go wrong.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard for 6 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast thrice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for 10 years. He was also a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.