Aaron Hicks (pictured) came into this in a 3 way battle to see who will take over the starting center field position and has made his case this Spring.
Aaron Hicks has been downright impressive this Spring and has put Terry Ryan in a spot where he really has no choice, but to give him the starting job come opening day.
Hicks is batting .371 this Spring with 4 homers and 13 RBI. He also has a ridiculous .800 slugging percentage and on base plus slugging of 1.178. Now you may be saying Spring training isn't about the numbers and you are partially correct. Terry Ryan has mentioned that, but when the other guys you are facing off against for the job are either constantly off the field hurt or batting .100, the numbers do come into play.
Terry Ryan has constantly said in interviews that it will be more than the boxscore on whether or not Hicks makes the opening day roster. As long as Hicks stays patient at the plate, runs the bases well, and plays solid defense for the remainder of the Spring he should have not to sweat about making the opening day roster as the starting center fielder.
Hicks is showing that he can be that very rare 5 tool player. He can hit for a high average, hit for power (has 5 homers if you include an exhibition against Puerto Rico and had 3 in one game), steal bases, cover lots of ground, and has a cannon for an arm. Will he be the next Trout or Harper? I highly doubt he'll be that great, but he can very easily be a guy who hits 300 with 15 to 20 bombs, steals 30 bases or more, and scores 100 runs.
If Hicks can continue to play the way he has he will be our starting center fielder, but most importantly he will upgrade our offense and who knows maybe help the Twins end up being a lot better than most expect in the 2013 season.
Hicks is batting .371 this Spring with 4 homers and 13 RBI. He also has a ridiculous .800 slugging percentage and on base plus slugging of 1.178. Now you may be saying Spring training isn't about the numbers and you are partially correct. Terry Ryan has mentioned that, but when the other guys you are facing off against for the job are either constantly off the field hurt or batting .100, the numbers do come into play.
Terry Ryan has constantly said in interviews that it will be more than the boxscore on whether or not Hicks makes the opening day roster. As long as Hicks stays patient at the plate, runs the bases well, and plays solid defense for the remainder of the Spring he should have not to sweat about making the opening day roster as the starting center fielder.
Hicks is showing that he can be that very rare 5 tool player. He can hit for a high average, hit for power (has 5 homers if you include an exhibition against Puerto Rico and had 3 in one game), steal bases, cover lots of ground, and has a cannon for an arm. Will he be the next Trout or Harper? I highly doubt he'll be that great, but he can very easily be a guy who hits 300 with 15 to 20 bombs, steals 30 bases or more, and scores 100 runs.
If Hicks can continue to play the way he has he will be our starting center fielder, but most importantly he will upgrade our offense and who knows maybe help the Twins end up being a lot better than most expect in the 2013 season.
Written by Nick Calo, follow me on Twitter for more updates and sports thoughts @PRH1987