Slumping Aaron Hicks aware opportunities running out to impress struggling Yankees: “I need results”

Aaron Hicks is getting a lot of opportunities in the wake of injuries to Josh Donaldson, Harrison Bader and Giancarlo Stanton. The New York Yankees have been searching for answers offensively and have been forced to turn to Hicks, who hasn't shown that he has the answers, either.

Hicks has been hitting the ball relatively hard as of late. Two of his outs in last night's shutout loss to the Texas Rangers were hit over 97 miles per hour, which is considered a hard hit.

He grounded out on a 105 mile per hour ground ball that had an expected batting average of .620 (meaning the same ball is a hit 62% of the time). His lineout later in the game was hit 97 miles per hour.

Via the New York Post, Hicks opened up on the frustration:

“I need results. I need results."

He continued:

“I’m chasing hits right now. Yes, I do want to hit the ball hard and stuff like that. But I also want to come up with big opportunities for my team right there. That ball gets through my second at-bat, maybe we got a [2-1] game instead of 2-0. Obviously the ball that didn’t get out, that would be nice as well.”

Hicks is hitting just .125 on the season. Even with increased playing time, he's been unable to make an impact. His expected batting average of .135 suggests that he hasn't been getting all that unlucky like he did last night, though.

Aaron Hicks has struggled mightily

Aaron Hicks' average exit velocity is below 88 miles per hour, which means he also hasn't been hitting the ball very hard all season. Perhaps last night's unfortunate luck means he's starting to turn it around.

If he wants to remain a Yankee when everyone comes back healthy, he's going to need to start taking advantage of the injuries and hit the ball well. That might be impossible for the veteran at this stage of his career.