Aaron Hicks’ season over after suffering knee injury in Yankees outfield collision
Cleveland’s bloops bothered the Yankees all series, and a final one proved the most painful.
Left fielder Aaron Hicks left Tuesday’s 5-1 win over the Guardians in the deciding Game 5 of the ALDS with a left knee injury that he said will be season-ending. Hicks indicated he will miss about six weeks after colliding with shortstop Oswaldo Cabrera while trying to catch a shallow fly ball down the left-field line in The Bronx.
Hicks was not exactly sure about the diagnosis, but he said an MRI exam determined that his year is “pretty much” over.
“Extremely disappointed,” Hicks said in an otherwise joyous Yankees clubhouse. “This is something special, and I want to be a part of it.”
With one out and a runner on first base in the third inning of a game the Yankees led 4-0, Cleveland’s Steven Kwan hit the bloop that made Cabrera, Hicks and third baseman Josh Donaldson converge.
Cabrera appeared to be calling for the ball, which made Donaldson back off, but Hicks, charging from left field, kept coming and appeared to have the best angle. The two crashed into each other, the ball deflected off Hicks’ glove and fell for a single, and Hicks fell, too.
The sixth-year Yankee lay on the grass for several minutes, and upon rising, showed a noticeable limp. He tried to walk off the pain, but he was pulled from the game and replaced by utility-man Marwin Gonzalez.
The hit put runners on first and second with one out, and a walk to Amed Rosario loaded the bases. But Nestor Cortes bore down and only allowed a run on a Jose Ramirez sacrifice fly, finishing the inning with a fly out from Oscar Gonzalez.
The Yankees limited the damage, but they encountered issues in left field all series. A bloop from Ramirez fell in front of Cabrera, then playing left field, in the 10th inning of Game 2, which set up the Guardians’ game-winning rally. In the third inning of Game 4, Hicks did not go all-out chasing a bloop to shallow left field that fell for a Ramirez RBI single, just out of the reach of a diving Donaldson.
