Yankees show Aaron Hicks his role with postgame comment, in-game decisions

BALTIMORE — It started with the Yankees’ lineup card. Outfielder Franchy Cordero was penciled in to start in right field on Friday against the Orioles. Aaron Hicks was relegated to the bench once again.

A few in-game decisions added fuel to the fire. Hicks remained unused despite multiple situations where he could’ve — and perhaps should’ve — been summoned as a pinch-hitter.

One line from Yankees manager Aaron Boone during his postgame presser pushed this narrative over the brink. It’s clear that the Yankees are avoiding all possible scenarios where Hicks touches the field.

Hicks is owed $30 million over the final three years of his current contract and yet he seems like the likeliest candidate to be designated for assignment when Harrison Bader returns from his oblique injury.

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Cordero got the start over Hicks on Friday, playing in right field in what turned out to be a 7-6 loss to the Orioles. It was the slugger’s third game in the starting lineup this season and he wasted no time making another strong (and powerful) impression, burning the team that cut him this spring with a three-run home run.

With his blast in the fourth inning, Cordero is now hitting .300 (3-for-10) with a few rockets off his bat in 2023. He’s made a couple plays in the outfield as well, nailing a runner trying to stretch a single into a double on Wednesday. The homer he hit on Friday left his bat at 105.3 mph, traveling 411 feet. That’s nothing compared to the balls he’s been crushing in batting practice.

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Meanwhile, Hicks is 0-for-7 this season. He hasn’t started since Tuesday.

In the fifth, with the Yankees leading by one run, the Orioles called on a left-handed pitcher to face Cordero. Boone countered by sending Isiah Kiner-Falefa up to the plate.

“Just a chance to have a better matchup with the lefty there and a chance to add on,” Boone said. “I like the chance of IKF putting the ball in play there. He popped it up.”

Kiner-Falefa was 0-for-10 this season before that at-bat. He did put the ball in play, but Hicks could’ve been the choice, a switch-hitter that has better numbers from the right side of the plate.

Two innings later, Boone stuck with Kiner-Falefa with the tying run in scoring position. The shortstop-turned-outfielder struck out swinging on a fastball on the outside corner from Orioles right-hander Bryan Baker.

“We’re looking for a hit in that spot,” Boone said after the game. “It’s not an on-base situation, necessarily, it’s more of a hit situation, so I liked IKF there.”

The Yankees were looking for a hit there and didn’t use Hicks. That’s as telling as it gets.

Hicks is safe on the bench for now. Bader won’t be back from his oblique strain for a few weeks and third baseman Josh Donaldson is likely headed to the injured list as well. When those two position players are ready to return, however, would the Yankees pick Cordero, Kiner-Falefa and others over Hicks again? Right now, it seems like the answer to that question is yes. Hicks is the favorite to be designated for assignment in that scenario, an expendable piece that may be expensive, but one that’s rotting on the pine otherwise.