Yankees place Aaron Hicks on DL; Billy McKinney makes big league debut
TORONTO -- After two games, the New York Yankees' once-crowded outfield became suddenly thin when the team was forced to place center fielder Aaron Hicks on the 10-day disabled list Friday.
The move had first-year manager Aaron Boone juggling his defense earlier into the new season than he anticipated.
All that juggling could lead to a short-term lineup that includes Aaron Judge playing center field and Giancarlo Stanton playing left. Both have predominantly played right field at the major league level.
"Stanton in left field is a possibility, and right field," Boone said before the team's 4-2 win over the Blue Jays. "I think we might see him in both places the next two days."
For Friday's game, Judge remained the starting right fielder with Stanton serving as the designated hitter.
If all goes according to the Yankees' now stepped-up plans regarding injured outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury (oblique), by the end of next week, he could rejoin the team, putting an end at this stage to any outfield movement involving Stanton and Judge.
Ellsbury, who went on the 10-day DL retroactive to Monday, will be available at the earliest next Thursday when the Yankees host the Baltimore Orioles. He's currently still at the team's spring training facility in Tampa, Florida, appearing in minor league games as he attempts to work his way to about 55 spring training at-bats.
General manager Brian Cashman said he likely wouldn't get those full 55 at this stage, given the lack of outfield depth.
"We're not in a perfect world," Cashman said. "So this will necessitate us taking him when he's physically ready, but maybe not totally finished off."
The hope is that Hicks would return from his right intercostal muscle strain (the muscle is part of the rib cage) a week from Sunday. An MRI revealed he had a Grade 1 strain, the lowest classification of such an injury. The switch-hitting outfielder also said pain wasn't an issue for him with this injury, unlike a similar oblique problem that cost him much of last season.
Hicks now will take three days off before resuming baseball activity with the goal of getting back in the lineup seven days after that.
His injury forced the Yankees to recall outfielder Billy McKinney from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. McKinney torched his way through big league spring training, tying for the team lead with five home runs and 13 RBIs.
McKinney wasted no time getting into the big club's batting order in this latest stint. He made his major league debut Friday night, batting seventh and playing left field, as Brett Gardner moved over to center. McKinney went 1-for-4 with a single in his first at-bat.
Gardner is the root of the Yankees' thinking when it comes to possibly getting Judge some time in center field as Hicks heals.
"As I've told [Gardner], as I think I've told you guys, especially early, I don't want to run him into the ground. I don't want to wear him out," Boone said to reporters. "We're obviously in a situation of need right now. But we still have to look at it through that lens. I've got to protect him."
At the start of spring training, it seemed the Yankees might have too many outfielders. But after Clint Frazier suffered a concussion in an early-spring training game at the end of February and Ellsbury sustained the oblique injury around the same time, that backlog took a couple of big hits.
If the Yankees get in truly dire straits, second baseman Tyler Wade also could get time in the outfield. Boone said that he will start getting practice work there, after spending all spring focusing on winning an infield job.
