The last two years have been an absolute rollercoaster for Aaron Hicks. The once prized Minnesota Twins prospect, and former first round pick, has experienced everything imaginable over the course of his short Major League career thus far.
After a torrid spring training two years ago, Hicks was handed the reigns to the starting center field job for the Twins. Struggling to get anything going at the plate in his first year at the big league level, Hicks slashed a measly .192/.259/.338. He had his hustle and work ethic called into question by Twins management and was looking at the 2014 season as a new opportunity.
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Through 48 games this year, Hicks has slashed .198/.338/.262. In hopes to jumpstart his once promising bat, Hicks announced only weeks ago that he would quit switch hitting and focus on the right side of the plate.
After a brief disabled list stint recently, the Minnesota Twins have decided to demote the speedy center fielder to Double-A New Britain.
This season, while not a good one for Hicks, hasn’t been much better for the Twins in terms of how they’ve handled his development. When Hicks decided to focus on hitting from only one side of the plate, he was met with less playing time, and in turn, had ever important at bats taken away. There was no decision to send him down to the farm and let him learn how to hit both left and right-handed pitchers while staying on one side of the dish either.
Now, Hicks, who has since taken back up switch hitting, finds himself at a crossroads. No longer are the Twins viewing him as a contributor at the major league level, and he has to prove they aren’t right. The demotion will have to go on to fuel Hicks to once again find his way, or we could have seen the last of him patrolling Target Field.